THE  WORKS 


OF  THE 


Right  Rev.  John  England, 


BISHOP  OF  CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 


WITH  MEMOIR,  MEMORIALS,  NOTES  AND  FULL  INDEX. 


By  HUGH   P.    McELROHK 


VOLUME    I. 


BALTIMORE : 

THE   BALTIMORE    PUBLISHING   COMPANY, 

No.  174  "West  Baltimore  Street. 


COPYRIGHT 
BY  THE  BALTIMORE  PUBLISHING  Co, 

1881. 


freu  of  The  Dalttmnre  PubHnMng  C'o. 


v-1 


AMONG  the  writings  which  have  been  placed  before  the 
American  public,  those  of  Bishop  England  must  ever  occupy 
a  high  place.  Whether  we  regard  him  as  a  champion  of 
the  Church  or  as  an  eloquent  orator  on  literary  and  social 
themes,  we  see  a  man  of  subtile  genius,  solid  learning,  and 
that  forcible  earnestness  which  in  all  ages  makes  its  mark. 

Cumbered  with  extraneous  matter  and  badly  edited,  the 
first  edition  of  his  works  was  speedily  exhausted.  The 
object  of  the  present  edition  is  to  free  his  works  from 
those  imperfections,  and  to  present  them  to  the  public  in 
that  shape  which  the  great  bishop  himself  would  have 
chosen  had  he  lived  to  give  the  final  touches  to  the  chil- 
dren of  his  brain.  Engaged  in  a  succession  of  controver- 
sies, he  necessarily  reverted  to  the  same  subject  time  and 
again ;  consequently  many  of  his  articles  were  mere  repeti- 
tions, and  in  these  cases  the  editor  has  selected  that  which 
presents  the  subject  best,  fortified  by  notes  from  other  articles 
and  such  sources  of  information  as  were  within  reach.  He 
has  also  found  an  immense  amount  of  matter  in  the  1849 
edition,  not  written  by  Bishop  England,  but  consisting  of 
newspaper  clippings  of  no  interest  now,  or  else  of  half- 
digested  papers  stated  to  be  by  "other  hands."  None  of 
this  appears  in  the  present  edition;  every  line  in  it,  except 
the  memoir,  notes,  etc.,  is  from  the  pen  of  the  great 
prelate. 


iii 


iv  PREFACE. 

The  memoir  is  not  of  that  species  which  may  be  described 
as  "  linked  sweetness  long  drawn  out ; "  the  aim  is  to 
give,  together  with  a  rapid  resume  of  the  principal  events 
in  his  life,  a  living  picture  of  the  man.  The  notes  and 
the  index  have  been  carefully  prepared,  and  the  latter  will 
be  found  useful  to  those  who  desire  to  delve  in  the  rich 
literary  and  historical  mines  embedded  in  these  volumes. 

Long  and  faithful  labor  has  been  given  to  the  work,  and 
it  is  trusted  that  it  will  be  appreciated,  not  only  by 
Catholics,  but  also  by  the  general  public. 

H.   P.   M. 


VOLUME  I. 


PREFACE,     -------_.-.-  ill 

MEMOIE,           -- Tii 

MEMORIALS,         ..._._..__.  xviii 

EPOCHS  OF   IRISH   HISTORY, i 

THE  PLEASURES   OP   THE  SCHOLAR,        ......  33 

DUELLING,       ---._.......  61 

CLASSICAL   EDUCATION,       --.....__  93 

DESCENT   OP   JEXEAS   INTO    HADES,     .......  130 

THE   CHARACTER   OP   WASHINGTON,          -....-  162 

DISCOURSE    BEFORE   CONGRESS,      ........  208 

RELIGION   OF   AMERICAN   INDIANS,            ......  252 

PEN   PICTURES  OF   ROME,     - -  273 

THE   WALDENSES,      - --  334 

HISTORICAL   SKETCH   OF   DENMARK,      --.-__.  333 

"                "          "    SWEDEN,    -        -• 337 

"          "    NORWAY, 345 

"                "         "    RUSSIA,     , 349 

"                 "          "     EUROPEAN    TURKEY, 365 

"                "          "    THE   GUEZK   SCHISM,        -        ...  403 

ST.    PETER'S    ROMAN   EPISCOPATE,        .......  415 

THE   IRISH    FRANCHISE,     ---------  480 

v 


MEMOIR    OF   BISHOP   EKGLAHD. 


"JOHN  ENGLAND  is  a  bad  boy,  because  he  will  not  learn  how  to  dance." 
Such  waS  the  sentence  found  in  a  school-book  of  John  England's.  What 
a  revelation !  Evidently  a  tough  character  from  the  start ;  achieving  the 
reputation  of  a  "bad  boy"  "because  he  would  not  learn  how  to  dance." 
And  he  never  did  learn  how  "to  dance;"  never  would  "trip  the  light 
fantastic  toe "  to  the  most  persuasive  strains  of  official  harp  and  viol  or 
under  threat  even  of  the  lash  of  power.  Ancestors  likewise;  setting  at 
defiance  laws  of  tyranny,  teaching  a  hedge-school  out  there  in  the  mountain 
waste  of  Ireland,  and  keeping  alive  memories  of  the  old  Keltic  glory. 
"What  though  the  stout-hearted  young  fellow,  destined  to  become  the  father 
of  a  great  man,  a  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word — what  though  he  be 
thrown  into  prison  for  teaching — he  laughs  at  their  heretical  oaths,  and 
escapes  to  resume  his  school  in  the  ditch. 

Thus  handed  down,  the  strong  old  spirit,  along  with  good  blood,  was 
born  into  John  England  in  the  classic  city  of  Cork,  Sept.  23,  1786. 
Chaotic  world  into  which  this  chubby,  strong-fisted  baby  came  crying  I 
doubt  not.  Thunders  of  the  great  Revolution  in  the  far  new  world  not 
yet  died  away ;  Europe,  corrupt  to  the  heart,  quivering  over  a  terrific  social 
volcano;  all  eyes  blinded  by  the  signs  of  the  lightning  of  God's  wrath 
blazing  in  the  sky.  "When  the  time  comes,  this  little  babe,  grown  up 
to  man's  estate,  will  take  share  in  the  world-wide  Revolution  going 
on ;  most  notably  in  recalling  Ireland,  who  was  dangerously  fascinated  by 
the  French  Revolution,  from  her  imitation,  just  beginning,  of  the  Revolu- 
tion's atheistic  excesses. 

Fifteen  years  of  peace,  however,  glided  on ;  of  peace,  but  not  of  idle- 
ness. Few  anecdotes  of  this  youth,  those  immortal  myths  which  are  the 
natural  growth  or  fuugi  of  all  great  men's  biographies,  are  handed  down 
to  us.  He  was  persecuted  and  called  the  little  "Papist"  in  this  Cork 
school.  In  after  life,  it  is  said,  he  met  one  of  his  chief  tormenters  in 
the  church,  and  fell  into  such  a  rage  that  he  could  with  difficulty  control 
his  emotion  and  proceed  with  the  Mass.  Having  signified  a  desire  to  enter 
the  priesthood,  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  Moylan  placed  him  in  the  charge  of  Rev. 
Robert  McCarthy,  dean  of  the  diocese.  Before  deciding  conclusively  on 
his  vocation,  he  studied  law  under  an  eminent  barrister  of  Cork — a  train- 

(vii) 


viii  MEMOIR. 

ing  of  which  he  afterwards  showed  the  rich  effect  in  his  masterly  style  of 
summarizing  arguments.  Having  concluded  that  the  priesthood  was  his 
calling,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1803,  he  entered  the  College  of  Carlow. 
The  energy  and  untiring  zeal  of  the  man  developed  early.  "Work  while 
it  is  day,  for  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work,"  was  his  motto. 
Procuring  the  establishment  of  a  female  penitentiary,  and  schools  for  poor 
boys  and  girls ;  delivering  discourses  in  the  parish  chapel ;  laboring  among 
the  militia  stationed  in  Carlow — these  are  the  glimpses  we  get  of  his  five 
years  of  study  in  college.  A  curious  incident  happened  in  his  military 
missionism.  The  officer  in  command  was  persuaded,  by  misrepresentations, 
to  bring  the  soldiers  who  attended  his  instructions  to  court-martial ;  but,  to- 
the  discomfiture  of  the  fanatics,  the  trial  ended  with  the  acquittal  of  the 
men,  the  officer  even  encouraging  them  to  continue  in  their  course.  In  his 
old  age  and  in  far-away  America,  the  bishop  never  tired  of  recalling  this 
incident  and  of  expressing  his  delight  that  his  mission,  like  that  of  St. 
Francis  de  Sales,  began  amongst  the  military. 

In  1808  he  returned  to  Cork  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  holy  orders. 
He  was  made  deacon  on  October  9,  and  the  following  day  was  ordained  to 
the  priesthood,  by  dispensation,  as  he  had  not  reached  the  canonical  age. 
Immediately  appointed  lecturer  at  the  cathedral,*  he  delivered  there  a  series 
of  brilliant  discourses  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Besides  these,  he 
preached  sermons  in  the  small  chapel  of  the  Presentation  Convent,  which 
was  always  crowded  by  persons  eager  to  hear  his  magical  words.  Nor  did 
he  pause  at  words.  His  zeal  expressed  itself  in  practical  works.  The 
present  Magdalen  Asylum,  built  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  Therry,  was  in  pro- 
cess of  erection,  and  always  being  touched  with  a  peculiar  pity  for  the  poor 
outcasts  of  the  world,  he  turned  his  attention  to  this  institution  and  was 
largely  instrumental  in  making  it  a  success.  In  the  May  of  1808  he  estab- 
lished a  monthly  periodical,  Religious  Repertory,  conducting  it  for  several 
years,  and  gaining  here  the  first  experience  of  that  journalism  which  after- 
wards was  of  so  much  use.  A  free  circulating  library  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Mary's,  Shandon,  was  another  of  his  works. 

His  next  labor  was  visiting  the  city  jail,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  con- 
solation to  the  unfortunate  prisoners.  Here  he  toiled,  unpaid,  except  by  his 
own  conscience,  for  many  years ;  especially  among  the  poor  fellows,  chiefly 
"  political  criminals,"  destined  to  be  sent  out  into  that  bleak  world  of  Aus- 
tralia, with  little  chance  of  seeing  a  priest  in  the  bushes  of  an  unsettled 
country.  One  of  his  adventures  while  on  this  mission,  together  with  many 

•  "  North  Cork  Chapel,"  says  Mr.  Wm.  Goo.  Read ;  but  I  am  Inclined  to  believe, 
from  the  strongest  evidences,  that  the  cathedral  was  the  right  place. 


MEMOIR.  ix 

others  too  horrible  to  describe,  confirmed  in  him  that  undying  hatred,  which 
every  Irishman  cherishes  with  sacred  care,  of  the  despotism  sitting  like  an 
incubus  upon  unhappy  Ireland.  A  prisoner,  buried  in  a  fetid  dungeon,  had 
given  way  to  frantic  despair.  Soothed  by  the  gentle  ministrations  of  Father 
England,  the  man  confessed  he  had  been  an  emissary  of  the  government. 
What  was,  and  is,  the  business  of  an  "emissary  cf  the  government?" 
Listen.  An  "  emissary  of  the  government "  made  up  conspiracies,  and  then 
betrayed  them.  Possessed  at  length  of  too  many  secrets,  the  government 
distrusted  him,  and  entrapped  him  on  an  occasion  of  usual  felony.  This 
was  the  reason  of  his  despair.  Father  England  assured  him  that  steps 
would  be  taken  for  his  relief,  and  promised  to  come  back  next  day.  He 
did  so,  but  the  prisoner  was  gone.  Now  for  the  sequel  of  this  tragic  story. 
Years  afterwards  a  man  called  on  the  Bishop  of  Charleston,  and  told 
him  he  had  seen  the  unfortunate  wretch  in  an  obscure  prison  of  India. 
The  man  told  the  narrator  his  dreadful  history  and  its  end.  The  cold- 
blooded, cruel,  heartless  miscreant*  who  ruled  Ireland  then,  had  become 
alarmed  at  England's  interference,  and  had  spirited  the  culprit  away. 

Bays  of  light,  penetrating  the  dark  night  behind  us,  reveal  this  inde- 
fatigible  man  still  at  work.  In  1812  he  was  president  of  the  College  of 
St.  Mary,  teaching  pupils  their  theological  course.  In  the  same  year  his. 
first  recorded  experience  in  politics  took  place.  He  was  fond  in  after 
life  of  dilating  on  this  feat.  For  the  two  Parliamentary  seats  of  Cork 
there  were  three  candidates — one  Liberal  and  two  wealthy  Tories  who 
were  also  malignant  Orangemen.  Most  of  the  electors  were  tenants  of 
the  two  Tories,  and  it  was  feared  that  if  they  dared  to  vote  in  two 
Liberals,  the  result  would  be  materially  disastrous  to  the  voters.  But  it 
was  determined  to  elect  one  Liberal.  But  how  to  do  so?  Father  Eng- 
land doffed  his  professor's  gown  for  the  day,  and,  under  pledge  not  to 
be  interfered  with  in  any  way  nor  pestered  by  the  usual  swarm  of  polit- 
ical advisers,  took  dictatorial  charge  of  the  matter.  The  result,  instead 
of  being  a  tragedy,  was  a  rich  comedy.  lie  organized  a  large  body  of 
voters,  sworn  to  cast  their  ballots  as  he  directed,  and  whose  prudence 
he  could  rely  on.  These  he  posted,  on  the  day  of  election,  in  a 
position  apart,  strictly  binding  them  to  hold  no  intercourse  with  any 
one  but  himself.  Then  he  sent  for  the  Tory  agents  and  chatted  with 
them  in  this  pleasant  manner:  "A  great  many  of  our  party  are  willing 
to  vote  for  one  or  other  of  your  respective  candidates,  but  they  fear 
that  their  right  to  vote  for  the  Liberal  candidate  will  be  interfered  with. 
Now,  gentlemen,  I  warn  you  I  I  shall  have  you  and  your  associates  nar- 

*  Byron's  line. 


X  MEMOIR. 

rowly  watched,  and  every  instance  of  intimidation  or  attempt  at  it  I  will 
instantly  punish  by  voting  ten  men  for  your  Tory  adversary."  They 
apprehended  the  situation ;  they  were  caught.  The  polling  began.  Very 
soon  a  Catholic  voter  was  threatened  by  his  landlord's  agent.  The  case 
was  reported  to  the  chairman.  In  terror  the  agent  rushed  to  Dr.  Eng- 
land, explaining  and  apologizing ;  but  nothing  would  do ;  the  ten  votes 
were  promptly  deposited  for  the  rival  Tory  and  the  Liberal.  There  was 
no  trouble  after  this.  When  the  Liberal  candidate  was  so  far  ahead  that 
defeat  was  impossible,  the  professor,  merrily  telling  them  they  had  behaved 
very  well,  left  the  Tory  agents  to  canvass  the  remaining  voters. 

In  1813  a  jubilee,  in  which  Dr.  England  took  a  leading  part,  was 
granted  by  the  Pope  to  the  Catholics  of  Cork,  on  the  completion  of  their 
new  cathedral.  Another  anecdote  is  related  of  Dr.  England  as  occurring 
in  the  following  year.  Traveling  from  Cork  to  Dublin,  on  important  dio- 
cesan business,  the  fall  of  snow  during  the  night  prevented  the  coach 
from  going  beyond  Carlow.  He,  with  some  others  whose  business  was 
urgent,  set  out  to  walk  the  rest  of  the  way.  Sinking  exhausted  in  the 
icy  cold,  his  companions  abandoned  him  to  his  fate.  A  countryman, 
who  had  great  difficulty  in  awakening  him,  found  him  in  a  comatose  condi- 
tion. "I  am  a  priest,"  was  all  he  could  say,  but  it  was  enough.  The 
faithful  Kelt  at  once  put  forth  all  his  energies  and  conveyed  him  to 
the  shelter  of  his  cabin  nearby. 

Destiny  preserved  him  for  the  doing  of  great  things.  That  very  year 
there  was  need  of  his  voice  and  his  pen  in  the  land,  and  his  voice  was 
raised,  his  pen  set  to  work.  Of  all  the  vile  acts  of  which  the  miserable 
Castlereagh  was  guilty  in  the  course  of  a  shameful  life  ended  by  his 
own  hand,  that  of  trying  to  subsidize  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  thereby 
enslave  them  to  the  State,  was  perhaps  the  most  vile.  The  nature  of 
the  attempt  may  be  learned  by  turning  to  the  last  passages  of  "Epochs 
of  Irish  History,"  and  the  result  of  the  civil  power  dabbling  in  Church 
affairs  is  most  powerfully  shown  in  the  sketch  of  the  Greek  Schism, 
which  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  compact  studies  of  that  terrible  eccle- 
siastical disaster  extant.  The  government  was  willing  to  grant  Catholic 
emancipation,  provided  a  veto  upon  ecclesiastical  nominations  was  allowed 
to  the  crown,  and  m  order  to  gain  the  clergy  offered  to  pay  them  sala- 
ries. The  heartless  aristocracy  and  gentry  were  willing  to  give  in.  Some 
of  the  hierarchy  gaped  also  for  the  gilded  bait  in  the  centre  of  which 
was  a  deadly  poison  taint.  But  the  noble  priests  of  Ireland  stood  firm. 
Nevertheless,  there  was  danger  in  the  air.  England  boriowed  money  on 
his  own  responsibility,  and,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  even  of  his  dio- 


MEMOIR.  xi 

cesan,  assumed  editorial  charge  of  the  Cork  Mercantile  Chronicle,  the 
failing  organ  of  the  Liberal  party.  In  the  columns  of  this  journal  he  so 
clearly  and  forcibly  showed  the  evil  character  of  this  step,  at  once  trea- 
son to  their  country  and  heresy  to  their  creed,  that  the  whole  nation  as 
a  solid  unit  rejected  the  scheme  with  scorn. 

He  then  showed  the  grounds  upon  which  the  agitation  for  true  Cath- 
olic emancipation  should  be  carried  on,  and  when  O'Connell  began  his 
crusade  he  had  no  abler  backer  than  England.  The  value  of  his  assist- 
ance to  the  great  Agitator  could  not  be  better  told  in  a  hundred  tomes 
than  in  the  pithy  exclamation  of  O'Connell  later  in  life:  "With  Bishop 
England  at  my  back.  I  would  not  fear  the  whole  world  before  me." 

It  was  net  to  be  expected  that  the  fearless  journalist  which  England 
proved  himself  to  be  would  escape  the  rigors  of  tyrannical  laws.  On  one 
occasion  he  scathingly  commented  on  the  corruption  of  the  judges  and 
the  iniquity  of  packed  Orange  juries.  Earl  Talbot,  the  Tory  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant, was  down  on  him  at  once.  A  fine  of  five  hundred  pounds  was 
his  reward  for  telling  the  truth,  in  default  of  which — for  he  could  not 
pay  it — he  took  his  place  in  the  cell  of  the  jail  his  father  had  occu- 
pied. Again:  O'Connell  went  into  the  newspaper  office  while  the  editor 
was  absent,  and  wrote  a  scorching  article.  Proceedings  were  begun.  The 
only  person  in  the  office  who  could  identify  O'Connell's  caligraphy  was 
the  journeyman — a  Protestant — who  had  set  the  piece,  but  he  was  true 
as  steel.  The  real  offender  not  being  found,  the  editor  was  responsible ; 
but,  as  chance  would  have  it,  the  official  certificate  of  editorship  had 
been  cancelled  that  very  day,  and  thus  the  charge  could  not  be  brought 
home  to  England.  Then  the  poor  journeyman  was  clapped  into  prison, 
and  during  many  months  the  Catholics  supported  his  family.  At  last  it 
leaked  out  that  he  was  only  detained  to  annoy  the  Liberals ;  supplies 
ceased,  and  the  journeyman  was  allowed  to  go  free. 

On  severing  his  connection  with  the  paper,  Dr.  Murphy,  who  had 
succeeded  Bishop  Moylan,  appointed  England  in  1817  to  the  parish  of 
Bandon.  This  was  the  celebrated  town  over  whose  entrance  gate  was 
written  the  inscription  welcoming  "the  Turk,  the  Atheist,  and  the  Jew," 
but  banning  "  the  Papist."*  Much  of  the  bigotry  still  remained.  For 
three  years  t  Father  England  labored  to  overcome  it,  working,  preaching, 

*  Dean   Swift,  on  seeing  the  inscription,  extemporized  the  following  retort: 
"He  who  wrote  this  wrote  it  well, 
For  the  same  is  writ  o'er  the  gate  of  hell." 

tMr.    Read    saya  "six  years,"  but  this   could    not   be,    for  be    received    the 
appointment  in  1817  and  left  for  America  in  1820. 


xil  MEMOIR. 

and  lecturing,  until  finally  he  brought  the  factions  together  in  a  genial 
social  band.  While  here  an  attempt  to  assassinate  him  failed.  A  great 
Hand  was  guarding  that  life  destined  for  an  arena  of  noble  toil. 

The  call  came.  After  being  twelve  years  a  priest,  he  was  nominated 
to  the  just  created  See  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  He  was  consecrated  at  St. 
Finbar's  Cathedral  September  21,  1820.  *  Characteristically,  he  refused  to 
take  the  usual  oath  of  allegiance,  having  resolved  never  to  wear  a  mitre 
xmder  the  British  flag.  "As  soon  as  I  reach  my  see,'!  he  said,  "  my 
first  step  will  be  to  renounce  this  allegiance ;  therefore,  the  form  is  now 
idle  and  useless."  Sailing  from  Belfast,  he  arrived  in  Charleston  Decem- 
ber 30,  1820.  He  was  accompanied  by  Father  Corkery,  the  first  priest 
he  ever  ordained,  two  or  three  students,  and  his  sister,  Johanna  Monica 
England,  t 

The  new  Diocese  of  Charleston  comprised  the  three  States  of  North 
and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  It  embraced  an  area  of  127,500  square 
miles,  and  contained  a  white  and  black  population  of  1,063,000,  of  whom 
about  1,000  were  Catholics. 

This  was  the  prospect  the  young  bishop  had  to  face.  There  were 
two  apologies  for  churches — mere  shanties — with  congregations  torn  by 
scandals,  and  two  priests,  who  fled  on  his  arrival.  Father  Corkery  died 
soon  after,  and  he  was  left  alone.  Never  perhaps  since  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  except  in  the  case  of  missionaries  to  heathen  lands,  was  a  bishop 
reduced  to  such  a  state  before.  There  was  scarcely  a  shelter  to  cover 
his  head,  and  the  great  Protestant  Tradition  of  England  was  in  a  most 
virile  and  flourishing  condition.  Ignorance  of  the  truths  of  the  Church 
made  his  task  dangerous  as  well  as  arduous.  Theie  he  was,  to  hew  out 
and  build  up  a  diocese,  while  he  struggled  to  beat  down  the  tradition 
of  bigotry.  He  was  like  a  pioneer  of  the  West,  holding  the  plow  with 
one  hand  and  the  rifle  with  the  other.  Nothing  daunted,  he  bravely  put 
his  hands  to  work;  ay,  and  head  and  heart,  too. 

For  that  same  head  had  in  it  thoughts  destined  to  live,  and  in  that 
heart  flowed  placid  streams  of  poetry  and  rushing  torrents  of  eloquence, 
which  would,  when  unpent.  carry  everything  before  them  from  end  to 
end  of  the  land. 

An  extensive  lot  at  the  upper  extremity  of  Broad  street,  then  on 
the  outskirts,  but  now  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  was  purchased ;  a  tein- 

*  Bisbop  Murphy,   assisted  by  Bishops  Moran,  of  Ossory,  and  Kelley,  of  ItJch- 
mond,  Va.,  performed  the  ceremony. 

tThls  estimable  lady  died  in  a  few  years. 


MEMOIR. 

porary  wooden  structure  was  erected  to  do  duty  for  a  church,  and  a 
humble  cottage  beside  it  served  lor  the  episcopal  palace.  Unterrified  by 
the  alarm  and  horror  his  presence  excited,  behold  him  then  walking  down 
Broad  street,  hands  clasped  behind  back,  buckled  shoes,  traditional  knee- 
short  clothes,  frockcoat  with  military  flaps,  wide-brimmed  Quaker  hat, 
purple  Roman  collar,  close-buttoned  vest — never  with  cigar  or  snuff-box 
iu  hand,  for  he  detested  Virginia's  weed — such  he  is,  poor  as  a  beggar, 
but  independent  as  a  king. 

Recognizing  at  once  the  value  of  the  press  as  an  auxiliary  of  the 
Church,  almost  the  first  work  of  the  bishop  was  to  establish  the  United 
Slates  Catholic  Miscellany.* 

The  Miscellany  was  practically  the  first  Catholic  journal  in  the  United 
States.  It  existed  forty  years,  until  1861,  when  it  perished  through  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  Few  of  its  numbers  have  escaped  the  rav- 
ages of  fire.  The  library  edition  was  destroyed  in  the  disastrous  conflagration 
in  Charleston,  1861.  There  is  only  one  copy  extant,  possessed  by  the 
bishop's  family  in  Cork.  Miss  England  aided  her  brother,  until  her  death, 
in  conducting  the  Miscellany.  Her  pen  frequently  wrote  in  its  columns,  and 
her  gentleness  often  toned  down  the  sternness  of  his  logic.  A  character- 
istic anecdote  is  told  of  the  bishop  in  this  connection.  When  the  weekly 
issue  was  threatened  from  lack  of  help  or  other  causes,  be  often  went 
into  the  printing  office  and  composed  those  brilliant  articles  which  charmed 
alike  the  most  fastidious  Catholic  and  Protestant  circles,  not  in  writing, 
but  in  type! 

His  most  important  work,  however,  was  the  formation  of  a  diocesan 
seminary  in  1824,  of  which  Andrew  Byrne,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Little 
Rock,  was  the  first  student.  Very  soon  he  had  a  band  of  fifty  zealous 
priests,  most  of  them  young  men.  Churches  rose  like  magic  before  his 
steps.  Frail  most  of  them'  were,  but  foundations  for  after  times.  The 
Cathedral  of  St.  Finbar,  in  Charleston,  lasted  thirty  years,  when  at  length 
it  made  way  for  the  new  one,  built  on  a  scale  of  great  magnificence,  but 
it  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  of  1861.  Thus  Bishop  England's  dream  van- 
ished. He  had  never  seen  even  the  beginning  of  its  realization.  The 
cathedral  will,  however,  soon  be  replaced  by  a  fine  structure,  for  which 
a  large  amount  of  money  has  been  raised. 

*The  statement  in  Father  O'Connell's  book.  "Catholicity  In  the  Carolines  and 
Georgia,"  is  inaccurate.  The  controversy  on  the  Roman  Chancery,  which  led  to 
the  editor  of  the  Courier  refusing  to  insert  his  replies  except  as  advertisements, 
occurred  in  1839,  long  after  the  Miscellany  was  established.  These  advertisements  - 
the  best  that  he  could  do— were  too  condensed  and  also  covered  too  much  ground 
in  following  the  ramblinga  of  his  adversary.  A  powerful  and  profound  article  on 
the  6a*no  subject  id  that  on  "Dispensation"  in  the  second  volume. 


"iv  MEMOIR. 

An  outbreak  of  the  plague  known  as  the  "Stranger's  Fever,"  and 
whose  name  sufficiently  describes  its  character,  gave  him  another  labor 
from  which  he  did  not  shrink.  Day  and  night  he  was  found  in  the 
most  noisome  quarters — for  Charleston,  though  a  small  city,  has  some 
spots  in  it  as  bad  as  those  of  New  York — carrying  bodily  and  spiritual 
comfort  to  the  sufferers.  Numbers  of  orphans  were  left,  whom  the  State 
very  humanely  provided  for  by  the  erection  of  an  asylum.  But  this 
institution  fell  under  sectarian  control,  and  Bishop  England  determined,  at 
whatever  cost,  to  found  a  school  in  Charleston,  where  sectarianism  was 
unknown,  and  where  Catholic,  Jew,  or  Protestant  could  receive  a  first- 
rate  education.  He  was  lavish  of  his  slender  means,  introducing  the  best 
talent  of  Europe  as  teachers,  and  soon  the  school  was  crowded  with  the 
elite  of  the  city  and  State.  It  flourished  for  seven  years,  collapsing  in 
1831.  Men  of  every  class  and  profession,  generals,  statesmen,  judges,  lit- 
terateurs, even  clergymen  of  various  sects,  at  this  day  gratefully  acknow- 
ledge the  impulse  and  the  strange  intellectual  power  which  the  great 
bishop  engrafted  on  their  minds  at  this  school. 

Another  of  his  labors  was  the  care  of  the  poor,  friendless  slaves. 
He  began  to  teach  them,  founding  a  school  for  the  males  under  care  of 
a  priest,  and  a  school  for  the  females  under  care  of  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy.  He  was  compelled  to  suspend  the  slave  schools  by  the  passage 
of  a  law  making  it  criminal  to  teach  a  slave  to  read  and  write,  but 
he  continued  the  schools  for  emancipated  blacks.  So  far  as  religion,  the 
main  thing  after  all,  was  concerned,  his  actions  were  not  hampered  by 
the  slave  owners,  who  soon  came  to  recognize  the  important  aids  to  virtue 
ami  fidelity  which  the  teaching  of  the  Church  afforded.  Averse  to  accept 
the  strictness  of  the  confessional  themselves,  they  would  have  been  unwise 
indeed  not  to  encourage,  as  they  did,  its  introduction  among  a  race 
hitherto  devoid  of  morality.  Dearly  did  Bishop  England  love  his  poor 
slaves.  He  arranged  separate  services  for  them,  saying  Uass  and  preach- 
ing to  them  in  person,  and  subordinating  everything  to  this  pious  duty. 
Although  in  his  writings  he  defended  the  institution  of  slavery  as  just 
under  existing  laws,  he  set  forth  with  stern  logic  the  duties  and  obliga- 
tions of  masters,  and  was  in  this  far  ahead  of  his  age. 

The  schools  of  the  alxr.'e  Sisters  were  intended  for  the  lower  orders. 
To  reach  the  hearts  of  the  wealthier  classes,  Bishop  England,  in  1834, 
procured  a  colony  from  the  Ursuline  Convent  at  Blackrock,  near  Cork, 
.ind  planted  it  in  the  young  diocese.  The  new  project  miscarried  at  first. 
Prejudice  was  so  great  that  Protestants  refused  to  send  their  daughters 
t<>  this  really  excellent  school,  and  Catholics  were  too  poor  to  sustain  it. 


MEMOIR.  XV 

After  lingering  twenty  years,  the  older  members  returned  to  the  parent 
house,  and  Bishop  Reynolds  sent  the  others  to  Cincinnati.  A  dozen  years 
more  passed  along  before  Bishop  Lynch  succeeded  in  recalling  the  latter 
from  exile,  and  locating  them  at  Valle  Crucis,  wear  Columbia.  Their 
labors  were  here  renewed  under  brighter  auspices;  up  to  the  present 'day 
the  school  is  celebrated  all  over  the  South  as  one  of  the  very  highest 
order.  Protestants  of  the  highest  society  prefer  to  send  their  daughters 
there.  Thus  Bishop  England's  work,  though  going  wrong  at  first,  has 
finally  succeeded. 

In  1835  he  undertook  the  mission  of  Apostolic  Delegate  to  San  Do- 
mingo, where  religion,  since  the  violent  separation  from  the  mother  country, 
had  fallen  into  exceeding  looseness.  He  was  received  by  President  Boyer 
with  all  becoming  honors.  He  restored  Catholic  discipline,  revived  the 
spirit  of  faith,  and  ordained  a  colored  man  of  great  learning.  On  the 
whole,  the  wisdom  with  which  he  managed  this  delegate  aifair  was  among 
the  greatest  of  his  works,  and  his  reports,  preserved  in  the  archives  of 
Rome,  are  documents  which  will  serve  for  future  historians  to  build  on. 

Daring  this  mission,  Rt.  Rev.  William  Clancy  was  appointed  Coad- 
jutor Bishop,  and  he  managed  the  affairs  of  the  diocese  for  two  years. 

Amid  all  these  labors,  he  traveled  incessantly  over  his  vast  diocese, 
at  great  personal  inconvenience ;  preaching  in  court  houses,  barns,~~or  in 
the  open  fields;  ministering  on  the  bed  of  sickness,  now  on  the  bleak  moun- 
tain side,  now  in  the  plague-stricken,  sun-scorched  streets  of  Charleston, 
often  with  his  feet  upon  the  wet  ground,  and  otherwise  suffering  from 
scanty  raiment  which  he  had  noc  the  means  to  obtain,  for  the  poor  pit- 
tances he  collected  were  dispensed  to  the  poor  or  used  in  payment  of 
refutations  of  foul  calumnies  inserted  in  the  papers  as  advertisements. 

Writing  under  these  difficulties,  he  found  it  impossible  to  make  his 
essays  entirely  accurate  or  extensive.  Without  proper  revision,  they  were, 
under  the  necessities  of  the  times,  hastily  given  to  the  public,  and  in 
the  present  edition  the  editor  has  only  made  such  emendations  as  were 
obviously  required  under  the  circumstances. 

Bishop  England  crossed  the  ocean  four  times,  visiting  Rome,  Vienna, 
and  Paris  in  the  interests  of  his  poor  diocese,  and  frequently  journeyed  to 
different  parts  of  the  Union. 

He  cherished  two  special  devotions,  without  which  a  man  may  be 
great  but  never  good— a  fervent  love  of  our  Lord  in  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, and  a  tender,  childlike  trust  in  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

Yet  this  man,  when  the    bloody  hand  of   religious  bigotry  was  raised 


XVI  MEMOIR. 

in  the  land,  was  the  promptest  to  crush  it.  After  appealing  in  vain  to 
the  civil  authorities  for  protection  from  the  mob,  he  called  out  the 
Irish  volunteers  of  Charleston.  Look  out  now,  you  Puritan  mob ;  there 
is  fight  in  front  of  you.  Sleek  officiality  was  alarmed.  No  more  talk  of 
burning  down  the  churches  and  houses  of  Catholics.  Peace  must  be  pre- 
served. And  so  passed  off  this  episode,  and  South  Carolina  was  saved 
from  the  ineffaceable  disgrace  which  is  stamped  upon  Massachusetts. 

Bnt  the  time  is  coming  when  he  would  stand  no  longer  foremost  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Church  militant.  Voices  were  even  now  speaking  to 
him,  saying :  "  Thine  eyes  shall  see  the  King  in  His  glory ;  they  shall 
behold  the  land  that  is  very  far  off."  That  iron  frame  was  broken  at 
last.  Along  the  rugged  mountain  side  he  had  borne  his  cross  to  Calvary, 
and  now  he  was  to  be  crucified  there. 

After  the  Easter  of  1841  he  visited  Europe  for  the  last  time.  He 
paid  his  respects  to  the  Holy  Father.  Returning  the  following  autumn, 
he  bade  a  final  adieu  to  his  sister,  the  Superioress  of  the  Presentation 
Convent  at  Cork,  his  brother,  Rev.  Thomas  England,  the  parish  priest  of 
Passage,  and  a  large  circle  of  Irish  friends.  Never  did  the  love  of  old 
Ireland  leave  his  heart. 

The  voyage  was  long  and  stormy,  and  when  he  landed  in  Philadel- 
phia he  was  sick  unto  death.  At  the  request  of  Bishop  Kenrick,  and 
concealing  the  malignant  disease  which  was  wasting  him,  he  delivered  a 
course  of  lectures  and  preached  seventeen  nights  successively  with  his 
usual  power  and  brilliance.  Next  he  preached  five  sermons  in  Baltimore. 
He  always  held  an  annual  retreat  for  his  clergy  in  Charleston,  and  he 
had  promised  to  be  with  them — never  having  been  known  to  fail  in  keep- 
ing his  apppointment.  He  did  not  appear.  What  was  the  matter?  People 
began  to  grow  uneasy. 

He  got  home  in  December,  all  broken  up.  He  insisted  on  preaching- 
and  took  part  in  the  Christmas  ceremonies.  That  was  the  last.  Soon 
afterwards  he  took  to  bed,  and  lay  there  suffering  for  three  months.  He 
saw  the  end,  and  fortified  himself  for  it  by  frequent  Communions.  All 
temporal  matters  were  calmly  arranged. 

A  Solemn  High  Mass  was  offered  in  the  cathedral  in  his  behalf 
April  10,  1842,  after  which  the  clergy  were  summoned  to  his  side.  He 
had  been  a  friend  to  the  Israelites  when  hands  Were  lifted  to  strike 
them,  and  they  now  testified  their  gratitude  by  praying  in  the  synagogue 
for  his  recovery.  He  received  the  Sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction  in  a. 
composed  mood,  saying,  as  he  held  the  Crucifix  before  him  and  kissed  it, 
"  Sweet  Jesus,  who  didst  deign  to  die  for  me  in  this  ignominious  man- 


MEMOIR.  xvn 

ner,  regard  with  compassion  the  condition  of  Thy  servant,  and  be  with 
him  in  the  succeeding  hour  of  trial."  He  spoke  wise  words  of  advice  to 
the  kneeling  clergy  around  him  for  fully  thirty  minutes.. 

In  the  afternoon  the  seminarians,  the  dear  children  whom  he  was 
raising  up  to  spread  the  light  of  the  Gospel  in  this  land,  were  called  to 
his  bedside.  Let  one  of  them,  Father  O'Connell,  speak: 

"  He  lay  like  a  sick  lion ;  all  his  strength  was  gone.  The  once 
manly  frame  was  now  a  grand  ruin  from  the  ravages  of  sickness ;  nothing 
remained  of  his  manly,  noble  form,  admired  by  the  gaze  of  millions,  and 
never  seen  but  in  the  gap  of  danger  or  in  the  van  of  battle,  nothing 
remained  but  the  quenchless  lustre  of  the  eye,  through  which  the  won- 
derfully gifted  soul  still  blazed  forth  in  all  the  splendor  of  its  native 
brightness.  I  saw  him  next,  and  for  the  last  time,  the  following  morn- 
ing, April  11,  1842,  at  five  o'clock,  the  hour  when  he  rose  to  say  his 
Mass  during  his  life  unfailingly.  The  agony  of  death  was  upon  him ; 
he  had  already  received  the  Holy  Unction ;  his  episcopal  robe  and  stole 
were  on  his  neck,  the  ring  gleamed  from  his  white  hand,  outspread  on  the 

coverlid  as  if  in    the   act   of    blessing An  audible  distinct 

word  was  spoken,  the  last  on  earth  of  many — '  mercy ' — a  whiteness  was 
suddenly  diffused  over  the  face,  which  now  shone  like  untrodden  snow. 
After  the  priest  had  said,  '  Depart,  Christian  soul,  out  of  the  world,  in 
the  name  of  God  the  Father,  who  created  thee,  in  the  name  of  God  the 
Son,  who  redeemed  thee,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sanctified 
thee,'  he  added :  '  Let  us  pray  for  the  soul  of  the  departed.  Bishop 
England  is  dead.'" 

"  Consider,  O  Israel,  for  them  that  are  dead,  wounded  in  thy  high 
places.  The  illustrious  of  Israel  are  slain  upon  thy  mountains.  How  are 
the  valiant  fallen  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished !  There  was  cast 
away  the  shield  of  the  valiant  as  though  he  had  not  been  anointed  with 
oil.  I  grieve  for  thee;  as  a  mother  loveth  her  only  son  did  I  love  thee."* 

*  Bishop  Keorick,  of  Philadelphia,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  cele- 
brated the  Mass  of  Requiem  and  pronounced  the  funeral  sermon.  Not  only  were 
a  large  number  of  distinguished  Catholics  present,  but  also  many  Protestants  and 
Jews  of  the  best  families  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 


VESTRIES  OF  CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

On  Monday,  April  20,  1842,  the  vestries  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mary's, 
Hasell  street,  and  the  Church  of  St.  Patrick,  on  the  Neck,  were  invited 
to  join  that  of  the  cathedral,  in  the  library  of  the  seminary,  to  give 
expression  to  their  feelings  on  their  late  bereavement.  A  committee  of 
three  from  each  of  the  vestries  (to  which  the  clergy  of  the  respective 
churches  were  added)  was  appointed  to  report  at  an  adjourned  meeting, 
to  be  held  the  next  evening  at  the  same  hour  and  place,  when  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted.  The  Very 
Rev.  Administrator,  being  through  illness  unable  to  attend,  he  appointed 
the  Rev.  Doctor  Lynch  to  preside  on  both  occasions. 

"  PREAMBLE. — As  time  rolls  on  its  troubled  stream  into  the  peaceful 
waters  of  eternity  it  occasionally  happens  to  bear  as  its  burden  some  being 
more  valued,  more  beloved  and  more  useful  than  those  whom  every  day  life 
presents  to  our  view,  whose  loss  leaves  a  void  in  the  community  which  can- 
not be  filled  up,  casts  a  gloom  over  those  prospects  which  were  brightened 
by  his  labors,  takes  from  a  fond  and  devoted  people  the  object  of  their  ad- 
miration, their  respect,  and  their  love,  and  leaves  behind  but  the  memory  of 
his  virtues,  his  piety  and  his  usefulness.  Too  well  and  tviily  have  we 
experienced  this  during  the  past  week  in  the  demise  of  our  pious,  learned 
and  much  beloved  bishop — an  event  as  unexpected  as  it  is  mournful, 
bringing  sorrow  and  sadness  to  all  who  knew  him  in  public  and  private 
life,  and  making  desolate  the  hearts  of  his  own  affectionate  children, 
who  from  his  lips  were  gladdened  with  the  joyful  tones  of  a  Redeemer's 
promise,  and  by  his  hands  were  fed  with  that  Bread  which  sustains 
man  on  his  earthly  journey.  The  child  mourns  the  loss  of  a  dearly 
beloved  parent,  and  the  burning  tear  of  sorrow  starts  to  his  eye  at 
affection's  call  as  he  beholds  his  father's  dust  restored  to  its  parent  clay. 
The  friend  breathes  forth  the  silent,  sad  sigh  of  affectionate  remembrance 
as  he  gazes  on  the  cold  remains  of  one  united  to  him  in  the  bonds  of  mutual 
attachment.  But  our  father,  our  dearest  father  has  left  us ;  our  friend,  our 
best  of  friends  has  gone  from  the  world  of  many  trials ;  he  in  whom  we 
centered  all  our  confidence,  on  whom  wo  depended  for  strength  and 

(xvlil) 


MEMORIALS.  Six 

support,  whose  voice  was  ever  ready  at  duty's  call  to  be  raised  in  the 
T  indication  of  ourselves,  our  country  and  our  religion,  the  pride  of  our 
hearts,  the  object  of  our  love  has  gone,  gone  forever. 

"Oh,  bitter  thought!  Oh,  sorrowful  recollection!  Three  months  ago, 
as  the  rich  tide  of  his  eloquence  was  poured  forth  in  portraying  the  glories, 
the  justice  and  mercy  of  God,  calling  man  from  the  ways  of  sin,  and 
holding  before  his  view  the  pardon  obtained  by  a  Saviour's  blood ;  whe  could 
form  the  opinion  that  at  this  day  his  remains  would  lie  cold  beneath  his 
own  episcopal  chair;  and  the  voice  that  so  often  edified  and  delighted 
thousands  with  the  fascinating  tones  of  its  own  peculiar  melody;  should 
be  hushed  forever  in  the  silence  of  the  mouldering  tomb  ?  But  such  is 
the  lot  of  man,  such  the  uncertainty  of  human  speculaton. 

" '  Man  proposes,  but  God  alone  disposes.' 

"United  with  us  in  the  sacred  bonds  of  the  Holy  Catholic  f;iith, 
endeared  to  us  by  years  of  the  most  indefatigable  exertions  to  promote  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  ourselves  and  our  children,  and  connected  with  us  by 
all  those  social  ties  that  link  man  to  man,  he  has  gone  to  the  home  of 
the  blessed,  there  to  reap  the  reward  of  his  labors  from  the  hands  of  that 
God  whom  he  so  faithfully  served,  whilst  he  leaves  behind  him  on  earth 
a  name  that  will  not  be  forgotten  as  long  as  virtue,  piety  and  talents  are 
respected  and  revered.  As  a  Catholic,  his  faith  was  as  strong  as  the  rock 
of  ages  on  which  Christianity  is  founded ;  as  a  patriot,  he  was  trained 
in  the  school  of  a  Fitzgerald  and  an  Emmet,  where  the  fisry  ordeal  of 
persecution  was  the  test  of  his  sincerity ;  as  a  scholar,  his  mind  was  pro- 
found, his  imagination  fertile  and  productive,  his  acquirements  various  and 
extensive ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  as  a  friend,  he  was  one  of  those  friends 
in  need  who  are  friends  indeed.  Never  during  his  long  and  eventful 
career,  whilst  he  defended  his  own,  did  he  interfere  with  the  religious 
opinions  of  others — the  burden  of  his  preaching,  more  fully  developed  in 
his  actions — being  'Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  others  do  unto  you.' 
How  well  then  may  we  say  that  we  all  suffered  on  his  demise :  The 
community  in  losing  one  of  its  most  virtuous,  eminent  and  useful  citizens ; 
the  social  circle  one  of  its  greatest  ornaments,  whose  racy  wit  charmed 
whilst  it  brightened  all  around;  religion,  one  of  its  ablest  defenders;  and 
humanity  one  of  its  warmest  supporters :  the  widow,  her  guardian  and 
protector;  the  homeless  orphan,  its  father  and  preserver.  Difficult  will  be 
the  task  to  find  his  like  again.  The  funeral  bell  has  tolled  his  requiem 
dirge,  the  Church  has  chanted  her  sublime  but  mournful  L'ibera,  over  his 
remains,  the  incense  of  the  holy  prayer  for  the  repose  of  his  soul  has 


xx  MEMORIALS. 

ascended  to  the  altar  of  the  Deity — all  now  is  silent,  sad  and  still ;  but 
though  his  star  has  forever  set,  his  memory  will  ever  remain  green  in  our 
souls,  and  though  his  spirit  has  fled  from  its  tenement  of  clay,  still  will  he 
live  in  our  heart's  best  affections.  But  while  we  mourn  for  the  dead,  the 
illustrious  dead,  never  can  we  be  forgetful  of  those  who  differ  from  us  in 
faith,  but  unite  with  us  in  charity — those  whose  souls  are  above  the 
influence  of  prejudice,  and  who  are  ever  ready  to  pay  a  deserved  tribute  to 
learning,  piety  and  religion ;  and  whilst  we  in  conscience  steadfastly  adhere 
to  the  holy  and  venerable  creed  of  Catholicity,  we  must  fully  appreciate  the 
liberal  conduct  of  our  dissenting  brethren,  and  the  high  respect  shown  by 
persons  of  all  denominations  to  the  memory  of  our  deceased  illustrious 
bishop :  Therefore,  be  it  resolved, 

"  1.  That  the  altars  of  the  three  Catholic  churches  of  this  city  and 
the  Neck  be  hung  for  one  month  with  some  distinguishing  badge  of 
mourning,  to  testify  publicly  the  sorrow  and  respect  of  their  respective 
congregations  for  their  much  beloved  and  ever  to  be  lamented  bishop, 
whose  untimely  death  is  to  them,  in  common  with  their  Catholic  brethren 
in  the  South,  an  irreparable  loss. 

"  2.  That  as  another  mark  of  the  grief  and  respect  of  the  aforesaid 
congregations  on  this  melancholy  occasion,  each  member  of  them  is  hereby 
requested  to  wear  for  at  least  one  month  some  badge  of  mourning ;  and 
that  each  member  of  the  three  vestries  do  wear  a  crape  on  his  left  arm 
for  the  same  period  of  time. 

"3.  That  we  hereby  tender  our  grateful  thanks  to  the  Eight  Rev.  Dr. 
Kenrick,  the  distinguished  administrator  of  the  Diocese  of  Philadelphia, 
for  his  kindness  in  visiting  us  on  this  sorrowful  occasion,  and  for  the 
consolation  he  afforded  us  by  his  eloquent  and  heai't-touching  eulogy  on 
the  character  and  labors  of  our  beloved  and  zealous  bishop. 

"  4.  That  the  thanks  of  the  three  Catholic  congregations  of  the  city 
and  the  Neck  are  due  to  and  are  hereby  tendered  to  the  dissenting  clergy 
of  the  State,  to  his  Honor  the  Mayor,  the  Judges  of  the  Courts  in 
session  during  our  affliction,  the  Collector  of  the  Port,  and  the  citizens 
generally,  for  the  respect  paid  and  liberal  feeling  shown  by  them  on  the 
death  of  our  highly  gifted  and  much  esteemed  prelate. 

"P.  N.  LYNCH,  D.D.,  Chairman. 
"A.  LAFITTE,  Secretary." 


MEMORIALS.  xxi 

WASHINGTON  LIGHT  INFANTRY  OF  CHARLESTON, 
SOUTH   CAROLINA. 

At  an  extra  meeting  of  the  Washington  Light  Infantry,  held  on  the 
25th  of  April,  1842,  the  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  S.  A. 
Huiibut : 

"Although  it  may  seem  in  some  degree  incongruous  to  mingle  the 
name  and  the  functions  of  a.  clergyman  with  those  of  a  military  body 
such  as  ours,  yet  in  view  of  the  close  connection  of  feeling  which  united 
this  company  with  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  England,  our  deceased  chaplain, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  services  he  has  rendered  us  and  the  inscription  of 
his  name  as  an  honorary  member  of  this  corps  give  us  the  right  publicly 
to  express  those  sentiments  of  respect  and  regard  which  we  all,  as 
individuals,  feel  for  his  memory.  Be  it,  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  with  no  ordinary  feelings  of  sorrow  that  the 
company  thus  publicly  recognizes  the  loss  from  among  its  members  of  the 
Right  Reverend  Bishop  England.  The  eloquent  tones  that  have  stirred 
our  hearts  as  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  shall  no  more  command  and 
arrest  our  attention.  The  lips  ever  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  virtue 
and  religion  are  forever  mute,  frozen  into  silence  by  the  icy  hand  of  death. 
The  earnest  vindicator  of  the  liberty  of  his  native  land,  the  devoted 
admirer  and  constant  advocate  of  the  institutions  of  this,  his  adopted 
country  ;  the  man  of  unimpeached  and  unimpeachable  character,  of  intel- 
lect and  acquirements  wide  and  far-reaching,  of  imagination  fervid  and 
poetic — the  priest  of  self-denying  and  self-sacrificing  virtues,  whom  all 
men  of  every  sect  and  faith  delight  to  honor — the  careful  and  sleepless 
watcher  over  the  flock  committed  to  his  care — has  finished  his  earthly 
course.  The  good  soldier  of  the  Cross,  he  was  ever  girt  with  his  armor, 
and  ready  to  defend  from  assault  the  truths  he  conscientiously  believed, 
and  how  widely  soever  we  may  differ  from  his  doctrine,  we  all  admit 
that  he  fought  the  good  fight,  and  performed  the  task  that  was  set 
before  him. 

"To  us  he  was  endeared  by  the  relation  he  bore  to  us,  by  the  recol- 
lections of  the  eloquent  address  which  he  delivered  before  this  company,! 
and  by  the  readiness  which  he  evinced  to  render  us  any  service  that  cir- 
cumstances might  require.  We  presume  not  on  this  occa  ion  to  analyze 
the  character  of  this  lamented  prelate.  No  panegyric  upon  his  virtues 
becomes  this  meeting.  In  life  he  courted  not  the  applause  of  men,  and 
his  memory  does  not  require  their  praise;  for  his  eulogy  is  in  the  deep 

i  "The  Character  of  "Washington,"  vol  i. 


xxn  MEMORIALS. 

grief  of  his  friends,  in  the  passionate  mourning  of  the  thousand  hearts  to 
whom  he  was  the  star  of  hope,  the  light  upon  their  thorny  path  of  life. 
His  epitaph  is  written  on  the  enduring  affection  of  the  widow  and  the 
orphan,  the  homeless  and  forlorn,  whom,  in  life,  he  cherished  and  sus- 
tained. Their  prayers  are  the  incense  around  his  tomb,  their  tears  the 
libation  over  his  ashes. 

"Be  it  further  Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  our  lamented  and 
reverend  chaplain  this  company  has  suffered  a  bereavement  which  deprives 
it  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  and  that  as  a  mark  of  our  sorrow 
for  his  death,  and  our  respect  for  his  virtues,  the  usual  badge  of  mourning 
be  worn  for  thirty  days." 

On  motion  of  J.  Bryan,  Jr.,  it  was  resolved  that  tne  above  resolutions 

be  adopted. 

D.  McQUEEN,  Secretary. 


PHILADELPHIA  REPEAL  ASSOCIATION. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  association  held  at  their  room,  278  Market  street, 
on  Monday  evening,  April  18,  1842,  "Wm.  A.  Stokes,  Esq.,  president,  in 
the  chair,  Benjamin  Pemberton  Binns,  Esq.,  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tions which  were  unanimously  adopted : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Repeal  Association  of  Philadelphia  have  heard, 
with  feelings  of  deep  and  solemn  -mourning  and  sorrow  of  the  death  of 
their  venerable  fellow  member,  the  Right  Reverend  John  England,  Bishop 
of  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina.  Attached  to  his  person  by  his  true 
nobility  of  nature,  grateful  for  his  generous  devotion  to  the  great  cause 
of  human  liberty — they  will  hold  in  enduring  remembrance  his  virtues 
for  imitation,  his  genius  for  admiration,  and  his  piety  for  example. 

"Resolved,  That  in  his  death  the  country  has  lost  one  of  her  most 
valuable  citizens,  republican  institutions  have  been  deprived  of  one  of 
their  ablest  champions,  and  the  holy  cause  of  Christianity  has  to  lament 
a  servant  and  advocate,  whose  entire  zeal  for  the  principles  and  interests 
of  his  own  faith  never  caused  him  to  violate  the  charity,  which  in  a, 
land  of  freedom  protects  all,  but  injures  none." 

The  president,  Mr.  Stokes,  having  vacated  the  chair,  which  was  takon 
by  Mr.  Benjamin  P.  Binns,  proposed  the  following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  lamented 
Bishop  England,  the  Association  do  now  adjourn." 

Mr.  Stokes  in  offering  this  resolution  remarked  that  it  was  under  feel- 
ings of  no  ordinary  emotion,  for  none  who  knew  Bishop  England  could 


MEMORIALS.  xxiu 

fail  to  feel  towards  him  an  almost  filial  affection.  He  was  one  of  those 
great  men,  the  splendor  of  whose  glories  commanded  the  admiration  of 
all ;  "while  the  goodness  of  his  heart  and  his  amiability  of  manners  made 
warm  friends  of  all  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  enjoy  his  acquaintance. 
He  was  a  remarkable  example  of  one,  who  by  the  mere  force  of  his  native 
intellect,  had  caused  his  name  to  be  known  and  revered  throughout  Europe 
and  America ;  known  and  revered  not  only  as  a  Christian  prelate,  firm 
in  the  faith  which  he  held — but  as  an  illustrious  champion  of  human 
rights — as  a  powerful  advocate  in  Europe  for  that  system  of  government 
in  America,  which  recognized  in  him  a  citizen  most  useful  and  constant, 
and  as  a  scholar  of  rare  attainments — a  writer  of  singular  purity — an 
orator  and  reasoner  who  had  triumphed  whenever  his  powers  had  been 
called  into  action.  His  own  deeds  were  his  best  eulogium;  his  memory 
would,  he  trusted,  be  the  virtual  prolongation  of  a  life  valuable  for  the 
pure  example  which  he  set  to  all — an  example  which  might  live  and 
which  he  hoped  and  believed  would  live  in  the  breast  of  every  repealer, 
exciting  him  to  the  practice  of  virtue,  guarding  him  from  the  temptations 
of  vice,  and  strengthening  the  resolution  to  persevere  in  that  good  work 
of  repeal,  the  entire  devotion  to  which  was  one  of  the  brightest  and  best 
points  of  the  character  of  Bishop  England.  Mr.  Stokes  spoke  at  length 
and  with  great  effect  of  the  character  of  Bishop  England,  and  when  he 
resumed  his  seat  the  association  immediately  adjourned,  and  in  silence  left 
their  hall. 


VESTRY  OF  SAVANNAH,  GA. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Vestry  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  Savannah,  held  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  May  3,  1842,  Messrs. 
Dillon,  Prendergast,  and  Condon  were  nominated  a  committee  to  draft  a, 
preamble  and  resolutions,  expressive  of  the  grief  and  sorrow  which  over- 
whelmed the  congregation,  at  the  irreparable  loss  of  its  ever  dear  and 
beloved  bishop.  The  following  were  offered,  and  approved  of  by  the 
pastor : 

"  How  sad,  how  melancholy,  and  how  difficult  is  the  duty  which  we 
are  called  to  perform,  to  give  expression  to  our  sorrow  for  the  death  of 
our  beloved  bishop,  and  to  delineate  his  virtues,  though  it  be  but  a 
mere  attempt.  Our  grief  is  too  deeply  seated  in  our  hearts ;  it  is  un- 
alterable. His  virtues  are  indescribable,  who  can  delineate  them  ?  Our 
sorrow  is  founded  on  general  and  special  principles.  Christianity  has  lost 
an  indomitable  champion ;  Catholicity  its  most  powerful  advocate ;  the 


xxiv  MEMORIALS. 

Apostolic  chain  one  of  its  brightest  and  purest  links ;  the  Militant 
Church  a  noble,  brave,  and  valiant  soldier ;  America,  a  defender  of  her 
rights,  and  the  South  a  vindicator  of  her  institutions. 

"Our  father  and  friend  has  departed  from  us — we  are  orphans;  the 
fold  is  without  a  shepherd;  the  diocese  without  a  bishop.  The  episcopal 
chair  is  vacant ;  the  sable  emblems  show  where  the  venerated  tenant  lies ; 
the  sanctuary  is  without  its  ornament ;  the  widow  mourns  the  loss  of  her 
support ;  the  orphan  weeps  for  him  who  gave  him  food.  Oh !  Father  of 
the  faithful  and  Supreme  Pastor  of  souls,  listen  to  the  sighs  of  the 
bewildered  virgins ;  behold  the  tears  of  the  young  men ;  listen  to  the 
sobs  of  the  aged,  and  have  regard  to  the  heart-stricken  throes  of  all  thy 
people.  In  the  accommodating  and  deferential  sense  which  usage  sanctions, 
has  there  ever  been  a  people  who  may  apply  to  itself  with  greater  pro- 
priety, the  lamentable  words  of  the  Prophet,  than  the  flock  of  the 
Diocese  of  Charleston,  in  its  present,  melancholy  bereavement : — Oh,  all 
you  that  pass  by  the  way,  behold  and  see  if  there  be  any  sorrow  like 
to  my  sorrow,  Blessed  Redeemer  of  mankind !  for  the  iniquities  of  the 
people  have  you  been  stricken — the  sons  of  the  fold  have  called  for  your 
death.  Have  our  indifference,  our  neglect  and  apathy,  in  Thy  service, 
provoked  the  blow  just  dealt  to  us?  Have  our  sins  incurred  the  heavy 
chastisement  ?  We  fear  for  ourselves — we  tremble,  and  humbly  bow 
down  as  culprits  in  Thy  sight,  and  penitently  sue  for  pardon.  In  sack- 
cloth and  ashes  shall  we  endeavor  to  atone,  and  our  future  conduct  shall 
be  the  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  our  expressions.  Spare,  0  Lord, 
spare  Thy  people,  and  give  not  Thy  inheritance  to  reproach.  If  in  anger 
Thou  hast  taken  Thy  servant  from  a  sinful  people,  in  clemency  and  com- 
passion leave  not  Thy  fold  without  a  shepherd ;  send  one  according  to  Thy 
own  heart,  and  worthy  of  him  who  was  our  first  pastor.  In  testimony 
of  our  grief,  and  as  an  external  manifestation  of  how  sensibly  wo  feel 
our  irreparable  loss,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  at  the  approaching  Month's  Mind,  our  church  be 
suitably  decorated,  and  as  long  afterward  as  our  pastor  shall  deem 
necessary. 

"Resolved,  That  the  vestry  and  members  generally  be  requested  to 
wear  the  same  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

"J.  F.  O'NEILL,  Pastor. 
"JOHN  MURPHY,  Secretary:1 


MEMORIALS.  xxv 

YOUNa   CATHOLICS'  FRIEND  SOCIETY  OF  BOSTON. 

At  the  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Young  Catholics'  Friend 
Society,  Sunday,  May  8,  1842,  the  following  resolutions  on  the  demise 
of  Bishop  England  were  unanimously  adopted : 

"To  the  name  of  Bishop  England,  haloed  as  it  is  with  the  glory 
of  his  sublime  virtues  and  memorable  deeds,  we  can  offer  no  commmen- 
surate  tribute ;  but,  being  solicitous  to  attest  our  esteem  for  all  that  is 
pre-eminently  beautiful,  pure  and  grand  in  the  human  character,  and  our 
mingled  veneration  and  regret  for  the  splendid  virtues  and  brilliant 
genius  which  have  passed  from  amongst  us  to  a  more  congenial  sphere, 
it  is  therefore 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  decease  of  this  good  prelate  our  Church  has 
been  deprived  of  a  glorious  light — the  Catholic  hierarchy  of  a  divine, 
eloquent,  pious  and  erudite ;  and  Christendom  of  a  luminary  whose  rays 
were  confined  to  no  sect,  but  beamed  upon  all,  dispelling  bigotry,  and 
giving  a  universality  to  Catholic  faith  which  will  be  honorable  to  his 
name. 

"Resolved,  That  we  proudly  claim  the  illustrious  dead  as  a  native 
of  that  land  which,  though  enslaved,  is  still  glorious  in  her  bondage ; 
and  that  in  his  death  Ireland  has  been  deprived  of  a  pure  and  fervid 
patriot,  whose  voice  was  ever  ready  to  assert  her  claims  to  independence, 
as  well  as  to  uphold  the  glory  of  her  religion. 

"Resolved,  That  the  testimony  of  Bishop  England,  when  recently 
visiting  this  city,  to  the  excellence  and  utility  of  this  institution,  is  con- 
sidered by  us  as  attaching  the  highest  honor  to  the  name  of  Young 
Catholics'  Friend,  and  that  it  will  ever  be  the  proud  boast  of  the 
society  that  Bishop  England  gave  it  his  warmest  approbation. 

"Resolved,  That  although  he,  esteemed  and  beloved  by  us,  now 
slumbers  in  the  cold  and  silent  tomb,  his  genius,  his  virtues,  and  piety, 
shall  live  for  ever  in  our  affections,  and  be  enshrined  in  our  memories 

and  hearts. 

"PETER  E.  BLAKE,  President. 
"J.  GERVASIO,  Secretary." 


HIBERNIAN  SOCIETY  OF  CHARLESTON,  S.   U. 

According  to  public  notice  the  Hibernian  Society  of  Charleston  con- 
vened at  their  hall  on  Monday  evening,  April  18,  1843,  to  pay  the 
proper  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  their  distinguished  brother 
member,  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  England. 


xxvi  MEMORIALS. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Win.  A.  Caldwell,  the  president  of  the  so- 
ciety, Mr.  Thomas  Stephens,  the  vice-president,  called  the  meeting  to 
order.  In  a  feeling  and  touching  manner  he  introduced  to  the  society 
the  painful  occasion  which  had  called  them  together.  He  bestowed  a 
rightly  merited  compliment  on  the  many  virtues  of  the  deceased,  and 
revived  the  recollection  of  many  occasions  where  the  cause  of  humanity 
and  the  most  striking  social  qualities  were  happily  illustrated  in  him 
whose  l»ss  had  occasioned  such  general  grief.  After  Mr.  Stephens  had 
concluded,  A.  G.  Magrath,  Esq.,  said  he  had  been  requested  to  prepare 
some  expressions  of  the  feelings  of  the  society  on  the  deep  loss  sustained 
in  the  death  of  Bishop  England.  He  had  undertaken  the  duty,  because 
to  him  it  was  a  pleasing  task  to  pay  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  man 
so  good  and  so  great.  He  then  read  to  the  society  the  following  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  Bishop  England : 

"A  mournful  occasion  has  convened  us!  A  chair  is  vacant  in  our 
hall  1  A  voice  that  was  loud  in  the  admonitions  of  the  Christian  and 
the  patriot  has  died  away  on  the  ear!  A  spirit  that  seemed  the  em- 
bodiment of  kindness  and  charity — that  hung  around  this  hall  with  a 
zeal  that  enchanted  while  it  instructed,  has  departed  forever !  The  min- 
ister, whose  religious  devotion  lent  sanctity  to  his  character,  and  in- 
fluence to  his  councils ;  the  member  whose  heart  responded  to  the  call 
for  relief;  and  gave  to  wretchedness  that  sympathy  more  consoling  than 
wealth ;  the  patriot  whose  eloquence  in  the  cause  of  a  suffering  country 
hailed  the  event  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  our  hall  and  baptized  its 
completion  in  the  same  rich  and  feeling  strain;1  has  been  taken  away 
from  us  forever  and  reposes  in  the  calmness  of  death,  in  the  sanctuary 
he  so  long  dignified  and  supported.  In  our  wide  community,  where  all 
sects  are  zealous  in  the  support  of  their  peculiar  tenets,  there  is  now  no 
feeling  save  that  of  deep  sorrow.  Controversies  and  disputes  have  been 
hushed  into  silence  before  this  manifestation  of  divine  omnipotence — and  the 
Hebrew,  whose  heart  was  opened  by  a  generous  liberality — and  the  Protest- 
ants, who  combated  with  him  the  doctrine  of  the  Church — and  the  Catholic, 
who  listened  to  him  as  the  oracle  of  the  living  God,  have  alike  crowded 
around  the  coffin  which  encloses  his  mortal  remains,  and  offered  the  deep 
and  touching  tribute  of  tearful  sorrow  to  his  many  virtues.  "While  all, 
however,  mingle  their  tribute  of  sympathy  in  the  loss  of  that  distinguished 
prelate,  the  lit.  Rev.  Bishop  England — to  us,  his  death  is  a  matter  of 
]>cculiar  bereavement. 

'  Bishop  England  was  unanimously  selected  by  tho  Hibernian  Society  1o  de- 
liver tho  address  at  tho  laying  of  tho  corner-stone  of  tho  Hibernian  Hall,  and 
again  at  the  first  public  opening  after  Its  completion. 


MEMORIALS.  xxvii 

"  The  descendant  of  those,  who  are  able  to  number  many  of  their  name 
among  the  distinguished  sons  of  tho  land  of  their  birth,  John  England,  at 
an  early  age,  gave  evidence  of  that  power  of  mind  and  devotedness  of  pur- 
pose, which  eventually  developed  themselves  so  eminently  and  successfully  in 
the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  this  diocese.  At  an  early  age,  he  be- 
came possessed  of  the  influence  of  religion,  and  unheeding  the  enticements, 
which  to  one  so  gifted,  might  easily  have  been  supposed  potential  in  direct- 
ing his  attention  to  pursuits,  where  success  in  the  eye  of  the  world  seems 
more  gratifying  than  the  quiet  duties  of  the  ministry,  he  yet  gave  to  the 
Church  the  full  energies  of  a  young  and  daring  spirit,  a  heart  filled  with 
the  gentlest  charities  of  life,  and  an  intellect  even  then  commanding  the 
respect  of  those  distinguished  by  age  and  station.  At  an  early  age  he  com- 
menced the  duties  of  his  holy  ministry,  and  his  efforts  were  gifted  with  the 
most  gratifying  success.  The  attention  of  the  Catholic  Church  being  turned 
towards  the  Southern  portion  of  the  United  States,  the  position  and  promises 
of  usefulness  already  displayed  by  this  distinguished  man,  recommended  him 
to  the  appointing  power.  And,  although  he  had  not  attained  the  age  which 
the  Church  prescribes  for  the  possession  of  the  office  for  which  his  services 
were  required,  a  dispensation  was  obtained ; l  and  he  was  invested  with  the 
high  and  responsible  position  of  bishop  of  a  diocese  composed  of  our  own 
and  two  of  our  sister  States.  He  came  among  us  with  many  prejudices  to 
surmount ;  many  difficulties  to  overcome  ;  much  dissatisfaction  to  assuage. 
But  the  edge  of  prejudice  was  soon  exchanged  for  confidence ;  the  difficul- 
ties of  his  position  yielded  to  his  labor  of  love ;  and  the  discontent  of  all 
was  exchanged  for  the  harmony  and  fellowship  which  has  bound  the  mem- 
bers of  his  Church  in  the  strong  bonds  of  confidence  and  affection. 

"As  the  patriot — the  lover  of  the  land  of  his  birth,  no  superior  could  be 
found  to  him  whose  loss  we  deplore.  He  was  born  where  the  iron  hand  of 
despotism  ground  to  tho  dust  the  noblest  of  his  race.  He  lived  where  he 
could  see  the  scaffold  reeking  with  the  blood  of  those  who  prized  the  honor 
of  their  country  more  than  they  feared  death.  He  suffered  with  those  who, 
conscious  of  the  then  fruitless  effort  they  were  making,  felt  that  religion  of 
the  patriot  which  makes  him  hug  the  chain  in  triumph  he  cannot  break 
in  the  hall  of  the  oppressor.  In  all  his  efforts  connected  with  the  cause  of 
suffering  Ireland,  he  gave  full  evidence  of  that  high  and  dignified  zeal — that 
fervid,  because  sincere  eloquence,  which  recalled  the  scattering  senses  of  the 

i  The  writer  has  fallen  into  a  slight  mistake  in  this  sentence.  Bishop  England 
was  ordained  priest  at  the  age  of  22,  a  dispensation  of  two  years  having  been 
granted  in  consideration  of  his  piety  and  learning.  The  canons  of  the  Church  re- 
quire that  no  one  be  consecrated  bishop,  until  he  has  completed  his  thirti  th  year. 
1  ishop  England  received  episcopal  consecration  on  the  21st  of  September,  1820,  the 
thirty-fourth  anniversary  of  his  birthoay. 


xxvm  MEMORIALS. 

weak,  chastened  the  daring,  and  excited  the  timid.  Careless  of  the  con- 
sequences so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  his  voice  echoed  from  the  gatherings 
in  his  own  land,  and  told  the  oppressor  in  a  tone  that  could  not  be 
unheeded,  the  tale  of  tyranny  and  suffering  that  millions  of  his  country- 
men were  compelled  to  undergo. 

"A«  a  citizen  of  the  United  States — the  adopted  son  of  our  Republic — 
there  never  breathed  one  more  fervent  in  his  admiration  of  the  institutions 
he  had  sworn  to  protect,  more  religious  in  his  observance  of  the  duties 
which  devolved  upon  him  as  a  citizen  of  a  country  whose  laws  knew 
no  distinction  of  classes,  whose  soil  cherished  and  supported  alike  all  sects 
in  religion.  His  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  excellencies  which  shine 
out  in  bold  relief,  amid  the  vices  of  the  many  models  of  republican  gov- 
ernment, made  him  at  once  the  zealous  advocate  of  a  well  regulated  liberty 
— the  antagonist  of  all  lawless  and  revolutionary  feeling.  His  long  expe- 
rience in  all  the  intricacies  of  the  human  heart,  taught  him  at  once  the 
possibility  of  man's  government  of  himself,  and  the  evil  inseparable  from 
boundless  dominion,  when  power  is  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  one ;  be 
it,  therefore, 

''Resolved,  That  the  Hibernian  Society  of  Charleston  have,  in  the  death 
of  the  Hight  Rev.  Bishop  England,  sustained  the  loss  of  a  member  and 
companion,  whose  eminent  learning  adorned  the  virtues  of  charity  and 
benevolence ;  whose  character  gave  dignity  to  his  society,  his  country  and 
his  Church ;  whose  name  will  be  ever  dear  in  the  memory  of  those  who 
love  and  admire  the  excellencies  of  our  nature. 

"Resolved,  That  in  testimony  of  our  profound  respect,  the  members  of 
the  Hibernian  Society  will  wear  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  the  space  of 
thirty  days." 

After  Mr.  Magrath  had  concluded  the  reading  of  his  tribute,  on 
motion  of  the  Hon.  James  S.  Rhett,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  the 
same  be  adopted  by  this  society. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Moreland,  Resolved,  That  the  Society  do  now  ad- 
journ in  silence,  and  without  comment. 

The  society  then  adjourned. 

THOMAS  STEPHENS, 

Vice-President,  Acting  President. 
__  W.  N.  HAMILTON,.  Secretary. 


THE 


WORKS  OF  BISHOP  ENGLAND. 


EPOCHS  OF  IRISH  HISTORY.1 


I  DOUBTED  whether,  on  this  occasion,  it  would  be  better 
to  confine  myself  to  the  topics  naturally  suggested  by  the 
recurrence  of  the  day  we  celebrate,  and  discharge  the  duty 
which  you  have  imposed  upon  me  by  reciting  the  usual 
detail  of  the  life  of  the  apostle  of  our  nation,  or  to  take  a 
more  enlarged  view  of  what  generally  interests  us,  and 
hastily  sketch,  for  beneficial  purposes,  an  imperfect  outline 
of  our  history.  Upon  a  little  reflection,  I  have  determined 
to  attempt  both,  giving  preference,  in  order  of  time,  to  those 
facts  which  first  existed,  and  introducing,  at  the  proper 
epochs,  to  the  notice  which  they  must  necessarily  command, 
the  labors  of  St.  Patrick,  and  from  the  entire,  drawing  a 
strong  moral  lesson,  which  they  forcibly  inculcate. 

The  island  from  which  we  are  sprung  is  but  small  upon 
the  surface  of  our  globe,  yet  its  history  is  that  of  many 
centuries,  and  one  which  is  more  or  less  an  object  of  interest 
beyond  that  of  curious  research  to  most  other  nations  of 
the  world.  This  day  you  may  find  her  children  congregated 
ia  their  societies,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Savannah  and  of 
the  Granges.  This  day  they  search  for  the  Shamrock  under 
polar  snows,  and  amidst  the  -sands  of  the  equator.  This 

1  Substance  of  an  Address  delivered  before  the  Hibernian  Society  of  the  City  of 
Savannah,  Georgia,  March  17th,  1824. 


V  EPOCHS   OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

day  millions  of  voices  are  raised  round  the  extended  circum- 
ference, their  shout  and  their  song  vibrate  on  the  rays,  to 
meet  in  their  own  verdant,  glittering  centre.  They  exhibit 
themselves  decorated  in  the  courts  of  the  old  world,  deliber- 
ating in  the  assemblies  of  the  new ;  they  lift  the  standard 
of  Bolivar,  they  pour  out  their  ejaculation  at  the  tomb  of 
Washington. 

Qnse  regio  in  terris,  nostri  non  plena  laboris? 

The  civilization  of  our  island  is  not  that  of  yesterday.  It 
is  not  by  oppression  that  man  becomes  social,  it  is  not  by 
restraint  and  compulsion  man  becomes  civilized.  If  our 
ancestors  were  polished,  we  can  show  the  causes  of  the 
semi-barbarism  of  some  of  their  descendants.  The  cause 
which  we  assign  is  amply  sufficient  for  the  effect  which  is 
found.  But  if  our  ancestors  were  more  rude  than  their 
proscribed  children,  we  cannot  explain  facts  of  which  we  have 
glaring  evidence.  Why,  then,  should  we  become  fashionably 
inconsistent?  Why  should  we  be  contradictorily  polite? 
Consistency  ought  to  be  fashion ;  truth  ought  to  be  polite- 
ness. God  forbid  it  should  be  otherwise  in  America !  Allow 
the  truth  of  our  assertions,  our  whole  history  is  consistent ; 
that  of  which  we  have  perfect  evidence,  supports  that  of 
which  the  evidence  has  been  lost  or  mutilated.  Deny  the 
truth  of  that  part  which  is  thus  supported,  and  that  of  which 
you  have  the  most  perfect  certainty  becomes  inexplicable. 
When  we  call  upon  you,  then,  to  believe  these  assertions, 
we  do  not  substitute  a  theory  for  a  history;  but  we  present 
you  with  a  series  of  facts  differently  testified,  some  having 
the  evidence  of  history,  the  others  possessing  that  strong 
moral  evidence  to  which  any  reasonable  being  must  give  a 
willing  and  a  ready  assent. 

We  are  asked  for  our  documents.  They  whose  interest 
lay  in  their  destruction  were  stronger  than  we  were ;  they 
became  possessed  of  one  portion  by  force ;  they  were  more 
subtle  than  an  open-hearted  people,  too  confiding,  too  unsus- 
picious ;  another  portion  was  obtained ;  until  the  records  of 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  3 

our  glory  had  nearly  all  insensibly  disappeared ;  and  when 
\ve  spoke  of  the  acts  of  our  progenitors,  we  were  sneered  at 
as  impostors  by  those  who  calculated  upon  their  safety  in  the 
consciousness  of  their  baseness.  But  though  the  parchment 
should  be  shrivelled  to  ashes  in  the  flames ;  though  the 
sceptre  may  be  stricken  from  the  monarch's  hand;  and  the 
pointed  crown  bo  torn  from  his  dishevelled  head ;  though 
the  assembly  may  be  driven  from  the  hall  of  deliberation, 
and  the  blazonings  of  heraldic  precedence  be  mingled  in  con- 
fusion and  trampled  in  the  dust ;  though  it  may  be  criminal 
to  preserve  the  name  of  your  progenitors,  and  the  great 
portion  of  the  people  should  be  compelled  to  take  up  sur- 
names from  trades  and  occupations,  and  in  a  language  which 
was  yet  scarcely  blending  into  form,  and  next  to  unintelligible ; 
still,  the  memory  of  facts  will  outlive  the  destruction  of  their 
testimony,  and  the  reasonable  traditions  of  a  nation  will  supply 
the  place  of  writings. 

If  the  settlers  of  our  island  did  not  arrive-  from  Spain, 
whence  did  they  come  ?  Their  traditions  inform  us  of  the 
fact.  Upon  what  shall  we  found  the  contradiction  ?  The 
individual  who  addresses  you  has  examined,  upon  the  spot, 
the  traditions  and  the  places,  so  far  as  any  traces  remain ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  time  and  the  ravages  of 
enemies,  many  do  yet  remain ;  those  remnants  of  what  were 
described  as  but  remnants  long  since,  admirably  coincide  with 
what  might  be  naturally  expected  after  the  lapse  of  ages. 
The  Irish  peasant  loves  to  remain  near  the  spot  which  con- 
tains the  ashes  of  his  parents,  and  successive  generations  will 
be  found  renewing,  where  the  laws  did  not  operate  to  preven- 
tion, the  names  of  their  grandsires  in  the  persons  of  their 
children ;  the  traditionary  songs,  which  have  floated  down  the 
stream  of  time,  give  the  exploits  of  the  hero,  and  are  found 
to  proceed  parallel  to  the  stream  of  his  blood.  And  on.  a 
coast  of  cliffs,  and  in  a  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  topography 
is  not  so  easily  changed  as  on  a  coast  of  sand,  and  in  plains 
liable  to  inundation. 

The  wreck   of  the    history  which  has  been  preserved  coin- 


4  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

cides  with  the  tradition,  and  the  song,  and  the  appearance. 
Shall  we  be  cheated  of  the  poor  gratification  of  the  history 
of  our  ancestors,  because  an  active  system  has  been  persevered 
in,  during  successive  administrations,  to  destroy  our  records  ? 
I  again  ask,  what  is  to  be  set  up  in  opposition  to  the  little 
we  adduce?  If  this  was  not  their  origin,  whence  did  they 
come  ? 

The  remnants  of  our  histories  inform  us,  that  our  Gallician 
ancestors  were  a  settlement  made  by  an  African  colony,  who 
had  previously  migrated  from  Tyre  in  Phoenicia,  and  who 
had,  during  a  very  long  period,  kept  up  an  interchange  of 
commerce.  The  histories  of  other  nations  which  have  been 
more  fortunate  in  the  preservation  of  their  archives,  leave 
no  doubts  as  to  the  origin  of  Carthage ;  yet  were  but  a 
very  few  records  destroyed,  before  the  art  of  printing)  upon 
what  grounds  would  the  historian  rest  for  his  proof,  save 
the  song  of  the  Roman  poet?  The  migration  from  Car- 
thage to  Spain  \vas  easier  than  from  Tyre  to  Carthage ; 
perhaps  the  fact  is  also  better  sustained  by  proof.  From 
the  harbors  in  the  northwest  of  Spain,  even  in  those  early 
days  of  naval  science,  the  voyage  to  Ireland  was  not  diffi- 
cult, especially  to  the  exploring  descendants  of  the  greatest 
commercial  people  then  in  the  world.  The  facts  are 
related  by  our  historians,  preserved  in  the  traditions  of  our 
people ;  consistent  with  the  documents  of  every  age  of  our 
country,  possible  in  their  nature,  by  no  means  unlikely  to 
have  taken  place ;  no  other  facts  are  offered  as  substitutes ; 
some  such  facts  are  necessary ;  those  have  always  been  ad- 
duced. AVe  are  referred  to  the  relics  of  our  literature,  to 
the  documents  which  would  substantiate  them ;  we  point  out 
the  fate  of  those  documents  which  are  known  to  have  existed. 
I  know  not  upon  what  ground  our  claim  is  to  be  rejected. 

We  have  next  the  testimony  as  to  a  commerce  of  some 
continuance  between  those  descendants  of  Milcsius,  the 
founder  of  the  Irish  settlement,  and  the  Africans  from  Avhom 
they  were  sprung.  AVe  find,  at  different  periods  of  time, 
several  swords  and  other  warlike  weapons  dug  up  in  the 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  5 

bogs  of  Ireland,  unlike  the  arms  of  Northern  Europe,  unlike 
the  Roman  weapons,  but  of  the  same  figure  and  the  same 
metal  and  alloy,  brazen,  as  those  which  fell  from  the  dying 
warriors  of  Carthage  at  Cannse.  Golden  crowns  and  collars 
were  found  in  like  manner,  of  similar  manufacture,  and  of 
the  same  alloy  with  those  of  Africa  and  the  East,  and  by  no 
means  corresponding  with  those  of  any  neighboring  people. 
The  written  records  of  a  people  may  be  given  in  tatters  to 
the  raging  winds  of  every  point  of  the  compass,  but  monu- 
ments will  still  remain. 

Rome  never  gave  her  deities  to  Ireland;  but  whilst  that 
proud  people  dictated  to  a  subject  wrorld,  Ireland  preserved 
even  her  idolatry  unchanged.  Her  deities  were  of  eastern 
origin,  and  her  rites  of  worship  were  of  Asiatic  institution ; 
not  those  of  the  Bramin,  but  those  of  the  Phoenician.  Baal 
was  her  chief  deity,  and  he  was  worshipped  with  fire.  We 
need  not  the  sacred  volume  for  the  Asiatic  facts  and  cus- 
toms, they  are  too  plain  to  be  questioned.  And  which  of 
us  could  not  testify  to  the  fires  of  May-eve  in  the  island 
of  our  nativity?  The  custom  still  continues,  though  Chris- 
tianity has  purified  the  observance  by  stripping  it  of  the 
criminality  of  the  object.  So  interwoven  with  the  fibres  of 
his  heart  are  the  usages  of  his  fathers  to  a  child  of  Erin, 
that  they  are  to  be  eradicated  only  with  a  dreadful  pang, 
after  it  has  been  found  absolutely  necessary.  Our  earliest 
writers  inform  us  that  the  fires  of  Baal,  whose  worship  was 
always  known  amongst  the  Milesian  settlers,  were  lighted 
with  great  solemnity  on  that  day  which  now  corresponds  to 
May-eve.  We  have  ourselves  seen  the  fires,  and  passed 
through  them  with  the  sportive  thoughtfulness  of  youth,  to 
avoid  some  undefinable  evil  which  we  dreaded  from  spirits. 
We  know  that  the  month  of  May  is  still  called,  in  the 
language  which  some  of  us  have  lisped  in  our  childhood, 
Beal  thinne,  or  the  fire  of  Baal.  How  many  other  facts 
which  our  historians  testify,  which  our  eyes  and  our  ears 
have  known,  are  totally  inexplicable  without  the  mythology 
of  Phoenicia  ?  They  crowd  upon  my  mind ;  but  I  must  not . 
detain  vou. 


C  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

Amongst  the  scraps  of  our  history  which  remain,  is  the 
list  of  the  monarchs ;  the  mode  of  his  death,  the  name  of 
his  successor,  the  length  of  his  reign,  are  generally  appended 
to  each;  and  the  period  of  time  which  this  would  occupy 
fills  up  about  that  space  which  brings  us,  counting  back  from 
the  era  of  St.  Patrick,  to  those  times  which  witnessed  the 
early  dawn  of  civilization  in  Greece.  Egypt  is  older  than 
we  are ;  yet,  though  we  acknowledge  her  civilization,  the 
progress  of  her  arts,  the  extension  of  her  commerce,  we  have 
little  of  the  history  of  her  monarchs,  save  the  repetition  of 
the  name  of  Pharaoh. 

From  Phoenicia  Egypt  received  her  literature ;  from  Phoe- 
nicia and  from  Egypt  Greece  drew  hers.  Our  forefathers 
date  the  epoch  of  their  migration  from  the  East  about  the 
time  when  Cadmus  brought  letters  into  Crete.  Egypt  had 
her  hieroglyphics,  but  they  were  not  exported.  The  Grecian 
character  is  principally  Phoenician. 

"When  were  those  records  of  Irish  monarchs  produced  ? 
The  first  Christian  missionaries  found  them  in  the  country, 
and  the  voice  of  the  country  attested  their  having  been 
always  known  as  authentic  public  documents ;  and  the 
princes  or  chiefs  then  in  existence  traced  their  pedigree 
back  upon  the  list,  and  the  title,  by  which  they  held  their 
place  and  their  possessions,  was  the  accuracy  of  the  register, 
which  was  kept  under  the  eye  of  the  nation. 

The  wandering  tribe,  or  the  lawless  horde,  may  for  the 
moment  be  placed  under  the  guidance  or  the  domination 
of  some  chief,  whose  prowess  or  barbarity  might  have  led 
to  his  election  or  to  his  usurpation ;  but  his  authority  expires 
at  the  utmost  with  himself,  and  his  successor,  if  a  successor 
he  have,  cares  little  to  preserve  the  record  of  the  man  who 
swayed  before  him.  But  where  civilization  has  introduced 
law,  where  society  is  regulated  upon  principles,  and  the 
governor  is  not  to  be  elevated  or  depressed  as  caprice  may 
<  lid  ate,  the  record  will  be  kept,  and  the  principle  will  be 
maintained,  with  at  least  some  semblance  of  regularity;  and 
its  existence  will  be  at  once  the  evidence  of  time  and  the 
evidence  of  civilization. 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISII  HISTORY.  7 

The  Irish  had  a  written  language,  in  which  those  records 
were  kept;  that  language,  however  imperfectly  preserved, 
exists  still,  and  those  characters  are  used  to-day.  We  have 
been  told,  they  are  of  Celtic  origin ;  that  they  are  the  char- 
acters of  the  North  of  Europe ;  that  they  are  Eunic ;  that 
they  were  common  to  the  Irish  bard  and  to  the  Norwegian 
scald;  that  they  are  the  same  which  England  knew  as  her 
Saxon  letter.  The  fact  is  not  so.  Make  the  comparison, 
and  you  will  perceive  a  much  stronger  affinity  between  the 
Irish  character  and  that  of  the  early  Greek.  Without 
entering  into  the  critical  disquisition  as  to  the  gradual  varia- 
tions in  Greece,  before  her  letter  and  her  language  assumed 
their  stable  forms, — I  do  not  hesitate  to  assert,  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  letter  corresponding  to  g,  the  similitude  of 
our  letter  and  the  early  single  letters  of  the  Cretans  is  most 
striking.  Yet  I  do  not  deny  a  strong  resemblance  between 
even  the  Saxon  and  the  Irish ;  but  it  is  easily  explained 
by  facts  which  are  obvious. 

Phoenicia  was  the  mother  of  letters ;  thence  the  Greek 
principally  derived  his ;  thence,  at  the  same  period,  our  pro- 
genitors brought  theirs ;  thence,  too,  northward,  towards  the 
Tanais,  and  the  Scythian  hills  and  plains,  men  took  their 
characters.  Centuries  elapsed,  ere  the  hardy  hunter  of  north- 
ern Asia  directed  his  course  to  the  west.  Siberia,  still 
shrouded  in  her  untrodden  snow,  accumulated  the  frosts  of 
ages.  Nor  Russ,  nor  Muscovite,  as  yet  was  known.  Along 
the  Don,  the  Volga,  and  the  Ister,  guided  also  by  the  setting 
sun,  after  other  centuries  had  rolled  away,  the  Asiatic  swarms 
traversed  a  pathless  forest  and  a  mighty  waste,  and  found 
themselves,  some  in  Scandinavia,  and  some  still  farther  south, 
where  their  descendants,  under  the  name  of  Saxons,  proudly 
held  their  sway.  Their  gods  were  not  the  gods  of  Erin; 
of  Baal  and  his  associates  they  had  no  knowledge;  their 
fathers  had  substituted  others  in  their  stead.  Ireland  knew 
nothing  of  their  Woden,  of  their  Thor,  nor  of  their  Freya. 
Nor  was  their  language  the  same ;  though  the  names  had 
been  changed,  the  letters,  in  which  those  names  were  written, 


8  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

preserved  a  great  affinity,  for  they  were  brought  from  the 
same  school. 

The  similitude  of  the  Irish  to  the  early  Grecian  letter, 
together  with  the  space  of  time  occupied  by  the  reigns  of 
their  monarchs,  and  the  allowance  for  that  time  which  was 
spent  in  the  intermediate  colonies,  will  coincide  admirably 
with  the  account  of  our  historians,  that  their  progenitors 
were  companions  of  the  early  Greeks,  and  that  our  country 
was  settled  by  them  about  the  era  of  the  dawn  of  science 
upon  Greece ;  and  that  our  progenitors,  having  been  descended 
from  a  people  then  highly  civilized,  and  having  brought  with 
them  letters,  formed  a  regulated  and  civilized  establishment 
immediately. 

Ireland  could  not  have  procured  the  Saxon  nor  the  Celtic 
nor  the  Runic  characters  before  those  characters  were  known. 
They  were  not  known  in  Europe  until  after  the  period  of 
Christianity.  Ireland,  upon  her  receiving  this  religion,  had 
books  written  in  her  own  character  during  ages,  which  books 
the  first  missionaries  saw,  and  many  of  which  regarding  her 
mythology  they  destroyed;  and  when  she  received  Roman 
literature,  a  curious  circumstance,  singular,  too,  I  believe, 
presents  itself  to  our  view ;  her  predilection  for  her  own  let- 
ters was  such,  that  she  wrote  the  Latin  language  in  the  Irish 
character.  The  individual,  who  has  the  honor  of  addressing 
you,  speaks  from  what  he  has  seen  and  known. 

Our  country  had  her  law,  the  Brehon  code  and  the  customs 
of  Tanistre.  It  has  been  said,  that  they  who  lived  under 
those  laws  must  have  been  barbarians,  because  the  punish- 
ment of  death  was  not  enacted  against  the  offender;  his  fine 
was  in  proportion  to  his  offence ;  perhaps  the  laws  of  Draco, 
or  of  Great  Britain,  would  have  better  suited  the  disposition 
of  the  objector ;  but  it  is  a  novelty  at  least  worthy  of  notice, 
to  find  that  a  tenderness  for  human  life  is  now  the  character- 
istic of  a  barbarous  people.  Greece  had  her  Solon  and  her 
Lycurgus,  Rome  had  her  Numa,  long  before  the  epoch  of 
Christianity ;  why  shall  Ireland  be  robbed  of  the  legal  beauty 
with  which  she  was  decorated  by  her  Loghaire,  by  her 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  9 

Ollamh  Fodhla,  and  so  many  others,  at  as  early  a  period  as 
that  of  either  the  Greek  or  the  Roman?  Are  we  also  to  be 
sneered  at,  because  upon  glaring  evidence  we  believe  that, 
besides  the  regular  meetings  of  the  provinces,  under  the 
several  princes,  for  the  regulation  of  their  local  concerns,  the 
triennial  Parliament  or  Congress  of  the  whole  at  Tara,  held 
under  the  monarch  of  the  island,  was  the  great  legislature 
of  the  nation  ?  Are  then  the  records  all  fictions  ?  Are 
their  statements  facts  ?  If  they  be  facts,  are  they  not  evi- 
dence of  civilization?  Do  you  find  even  a  claim  to  similar 
documents,  a  notion  of  similar  institutions,  amongst  the  uncivi- 
lized children  of  nature?  Do  you  find  learning  held  in 
estimation?  Do  you  find  laws  recorded?  Do  you  find  a  regu- 
larly constructed  and  a  written  language  amongst  barbarians  ? 

I  am  no  advocate  for  chivalry;  but  the  existence  of  an 
order  of  knighthood  is  at  least  a  proof  of  some  progress  in 
civilization.  To  omit  many  others  which  are  equally  well 
known,  the  existence  from  a  very  early  period  of  the  knights 
of  the  Red  Branch  in  Ulster,  cannot  be  called  into  question. 
The  annals  of  their  order,  the  history  of  their  exploits,  the 
names  of  their  heroes,  the  time,  the  place,  the  other  circum- 
stances, cannot  all  be  baseless  fabrics  of  the  fancy,  especially 
when  we  find  history  furnishing  the  facts  with  which  those 
details  are  connected.  The  fable  of  Greece  is  the  decoration 
of  a  fact.  The  magical  metamorphosis  of  the  Roman  poet 
is  but  the  sport  of  a  fine  fancy  with  a  true  substance.  But 
in  the  accounts  to  which  I  allude  facts  are  stated  without 
decorations ;  persons  are  introduced  who  are  known  to  have 
existed ;  and  all  the  occurrences  are  such  as  require  neither 
the  power  of  the  magician  nor  the  performance  of  a  miracle. 

Xor  shall  I  here  enter  upon  a  disquisition  to  ascertain, 
whether  at  the  decline  of  the  order  of  the  Ruddairc  no,  craobh 
ruadh,  the  members  of  that  body  established  the  Saxon 
association,  which  was  the  nucleus  of  the  German  Ritters, 
and  one  of  the  earliest  exhibitions  of  chivalry  upon  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe. 

But    there    is    one    species    of    testimony   peculiar    to    our 


10  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

nation.  Greece  raised  tumults  upon  the  first  preaching  of 
the  Christian  doctrine ;  Rome  persecuted  the  Apostles ;  Judea 
was  necessarily  inimical  to  the  annihilation  of  her  own  power, 
and  resented  the  imputation  of  having  slain  the  Son  of  God : 
these  nations  were  civilized.  Rome  and  Judea  persecuted; 
Greece  was  little  more  than  tumultuous.  The  pride  and 
•corruption  of  Rome  led  to  her  criminality;  the  obstinacy, 
with  which  Judea  continued  under  her  mistake,  caused  her 
persecution.  But  amongst  the  barbarous  nations  to  whom  the 
founders  of  our  religion  preached  the  faith,  they  had  generally 
to  pay  their  lives  as  the  forfeit  of  their  zeal.  In  their  stub- 
born soil  the  seed  of  the  word  was  to  be  watered  by  the 
tears  of  the  sower,  and  the  germ  was  to  be  nurtured  with 
his  blood,  ere  the  plant  could  flourish.  All  the  histories  of 
nations  that  have  embraced  our  doctrines,  testify  to  the  fact 
upon  which  I  found  my  assertion.  Ireland,  however,  fur- 
nishes a  solitary  and  splendid  exception.  The  Roman  pro- 
consuls and  praetors  executed  the  orders  of  a  Nero  and  of  a 
Domitian,  in  Greece  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 
India  and  Ethiopia,  Bactria  and  Persia,  were  not  behind  the 
officers  of  the  mighty  fourth  monarchy  in  their  hatred  to  the 
name  of  Jesus  and  to  the  emblem  of  His  cross.  But  in 
Ireland  the  soil  was  already  prepared ;  the  island  of  sham- 
rocks bloomed  in  the  verdure  of  cultivation ;  the  venom  of 
irreligious  persecution  was  not  found  in  her  fields.  Neither 
the  pride  of  the  cruel  despot,  nor  the  frenzy  of  the  barbarian, 
was  the  characteristic  of  her  king  or  of  her  people.  And 
though  our  country  had  the  twinkling  of  science  to  adorn  her 
firmament,  yet,  like  the  other  nations,  she  sat  in  darkness 
and  in  the  shadow  of  death;  but  her  mild  mythology,  as  far 
as  we  can  discover,  caught  some  rays  from  the  sun  of  justice, 
which  it  imperfectly  and  weakly  reflected  upon  her  children. 
The  day-star  beamed  upon  them,  and  with  expectation  their 
eyes  were  turned  to  the  reddening  east ;  perhaps  the  mists 
of  their  ocean  served  to  reflect  and  to  mellow  the  glories  of 
the  rising  sun,  and  having  been  long  accustomed  to  a  little 
light,  they  were  better  prepared  to  endure  and  to  examine 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  11 

that  brilliant  orb  which  now  mounted  above  their  horizon  in 
the   effulgent  majesty  of  truth. 

"Whatever  might  have  been  the  cause,  the  fact  is  indis- 
putable— Ireland  did  not  slay  her  apostles ;  and  when  she 
was  placed  under  the  dominion  of  the  Briton,  her  children 
Avere  reproached  with  the  imperfection  of  their  calendar ; 
they  were  accused  of  being  an  irreligious  people,  because  no 
national  martyrs  were  found  amongst  their  saints.  Oh,  how 
prophetic  was  the  answer !  "  That  deficiency  will  soon  be 
supplied,  as  the  Pope  has  favored  us  with  such  excellent 
teachers." 

New  scenes  now  begin  to  present  themselves.  \Ye  come 
to  the  era  of  St.  Patrick.  I  cannot  say  with  precision  what 
Avas  the  place  of  his  birth.  He  is  claimed  as  a  child  of 
Scotland;  he  is  also  claimed  by  Gaul.  AVe  cannot  decide 
where  we  do  not  find  sufficient  evidence.  His  father's 
name  was  Calphurnius :  from  this  it  is  probable  he  was  of 
noble  Roman  extraction,  for  the  wife  of  Julius  Caesar  was 
of  this  family.  His  mother's  name  was  Conchessa;  she  was 
niece  to  the  celebrated  St.  Martin,  the  Bishop  of  Tours.  This 
would  render  it  likely  that  the  claim  of  France  is  not 
unfounded ;  but  the  parents  might  have  settled  in  North 
Britain.  Their  son  Maun  was  born  towards  the  close  of  the 
fourth  century.  At  an  early  period  of  youth  he  was  taken 
into  Ireland  as  a  captive,  and  was  employed  upon  the  moun- 
tains in  charge  of  cattle.  After  a  few  years  of  heavy  servi 
tude,  he  regained  his  liberty;  but  was,  soon  afterwards, 
reduced  to  his  former  situation.  In  his  wretched  durance, 
he  learned  much  patience,  and  found  the  mode  of  subjugating 
his  passions.  He  was  again  released,  and  travelled  into 
Gaul.  Here  he  was  for  a  considerable  time  a  disciple  of 
his  relative,  the  Bishop  of  Tours ;  and  he  also  imbibed  much 
knowledge  and  piety  at  Auxerre,  from  the  good  and  distin- 
guished prelate  of  that  see.  After  having  embraced  the 
ecclesiastical  state,  he  travelled  into  Italy,  and  at  length, 
in  the  year  432,  he  received  episcopal  consecration ;  wa* 
admitted  into  the  patrician  order,  and  appointed  by  Pope 


12  EPOCHS   OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

Celestine,  who  then  filled  the  apostolic  chair,  to  the  charge 
of  that  island  in  which  he  had  been  formerly  a  captive,  and 
for  whose  spiritual  welfare  he  felt  an  ardent  zeal,  and  was 
anxious  to  devote  himself  to  a  life  of  toil  and  sufferings. 
Henceforth,  he  is  known  onjy  by  the  name  of  Patrick. 

Previous  to  his  arrival,  Christianity  had  made  some  little 
progress  in  the  island.  We  have  the  accounts  of  St.  Ailbe, 
founder  of  the  see  of  Emly,  which  is  now  united  to  the 
archiepiscopal  see  of  Cashel ;  of  St.  Ivar  in  the  west,  some- 
where in  the  province  of  Connaught ;  of  St.  Declan,  in  the 
country  of  the  Decies,  in  the  vicinity  of  Waterford ;  and  of 
St.  Kieran,  who  founded  the  see  of  Ossory,  in  that  place 
which  was  afterwards  called  and  is  still  known  as  Kilkenny. 

But  upon  the  arrival  of  Patrick,  a  new  impulse  was  given 
to  the  missionary  force,  and  the  true  religion  began  widely 
to  diffuse  itself.  Much  opposition,  of  course,  was  made  by 
many  to  the  labors  of  the  apostle ;  but  he,  well  knowing  that 
his  doctrines  were  such  as  could  bear  to  have  their  founda- 
tions closely  examined,  desired  at  once  to  lay  them  before 
the  assembled  wisdom,  and  judgment,  and  learning  of  the 
nation.  He  went  to  the  Congress  at  Tara,  and  there  openly 
preached  a  crucified  God.  The  Druids  and  principal  abettors 
of  the  Irish  mythology  disputed  with  him ;  but  he  was 
chiefly  thwarted  by  the  machinations,  and  intrigues,  and  open 
resistance  of  Niall,  the  son  of  the  monarch,  whose  influence 
was  very  extensive.  So  that  the  apostle  did  not,  at  this 
time,  reap  all  the  fruit  upon  which  he  had  calculated.  Yet 
were  many  persons  brought  to  a  deep  sense  of  the  folly  of 
idolatry,  and  the  necessity  of  serving  God,  who  is  a  Spirit, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

The  only  positive  infliction,  of  which  we  have  an  account, 
is  of  one  subsequent  to  this — an  imprisonment  of  the  saint 
and  his  companions  in  irons,  during  about  fourteen  days. 
Being  released  from  durance,  he  went  southwards,  and  con- 
verted the  King  of  Munster  and  his  family;  then  going  up 
towards  the  northwest,  he  brought  over  the  King  of  Con- 
naught  and  his  sons  to  the  profession  of  the  faith,  and 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  13 

carried  on  the  mission  in  Ulster  with  extraordinary  success. 
In  a  short  time  churches  rose  upon  the  ruins  of  idols. 
Monasteries  of  men  and  women  were  everywhere  founded, 
and  the  religion  of  Christ  in  a  few  years  predominated 
throughout  the  island.  "\Ve  have  no  record  of  so  sudden, 
so  perfect,  so  general  a  conversion  of  any  other  nation.  The 
apostle  of  Ireland  sees  his  flock  now  too  large  for  his  super- 
intendence, and  new  bishoprics  are  created.  His  name  is 
now  held  in  esteem,  and  in  that  same  assembly  at  Tara, 
where  on  a  former  occasion  he  was  disappointed,  he  is 
covered  with  honors ;  he  is  admitted  to  his  seat,  he  is  ranked 
amongst  their  most  learned  men,  and  made  one  of  the  judges 
to  preserve  the  purity  of  their  historical  records.  The  place 
formerly  held  by  the  teachers  of  idolatry  is  given  to  the 
apostle  of  the  Lamb.  Ireland  adds  the  gem  of  Roman 
literature  to  the  treasures  which  she  had  long  possessed,  and 
her  clergy  and  her  laity  are  emulous  of  each  other  in  making 
progress  in  the  new  field  of  learning  to  which  they  have 
been  introduced.  Her  ancient  music  resounds  in  the  temple 
of  the  living  God,  and  her  virgins  lift  the  melody  of  their 
voices  to  celebrate,  in  grateful  notes,  the  triumph  of  redemp- 
tion. O,  land  of  my  fathers !  how  beauteous  were  your 
hills,  how  lovely  were  your  valleys,  how  pure  were  your 
streams,  in  that  day  before  the  eye  of  heaven !  The  hand 
of  the  spoiler  did  not  desolate  your  fields ;  the  foot  of  the 
stranger  was  not  upon  the  necks  of  your  children ;  the  sword 
of  the  persecutor  did  not  stain  your  temples  with  blood ;  the 
torch  of  the  incendiary  did  not  consume  the  retreats  of 
devotion ;  the  ruthless  bigot  had  not  as  yet  armed  your  sons 
for  their  mutual  destruction ;  but  the  conviction  of  the  under- 
standing formed  the  basis  of  piety,  and  perfect  charity  exhib- 
ited the  form  of  undefiled  religion.  The  children  of  Ireland 
\vere  in  that  day  known  to  be  disciples  of  our  Lord  Jesus, 
because  they  loved  one  another.  The  days  of  Patrick  were 
prolonged,  until,  from  his  metropolitan  eminence  of  Armagh, 
he  beheld  the  land  flourish  in  beauty,  lovely  in  peace  and 
decorated  with  virtue.  About  the  year  496,  he  closed  his 


14  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

eyes  upon  this  mortal  scene,  in  which  he  had  been  so 
eminently  useful,  and  was  buried  at  Down.  "  O,  let  my  soul 
die  the  death  of  the  just,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  unto 
theirs." 

Ireland  was  destined  ere  long  to  be  useful  to  the  rest  of 
Europe.  Sarmatia  soon  began  to  pour  her  thousands  upon 
the  South.  Eoman  degeneracy  had  permitted  Roman  freedom 
to  be  lost.  But  the  polish  of  the  Augustan  age  was  still 
upon  society.  Barbarism,  it  is  true,  had  in  some  instances 
defaced  it.  It  was  still  fashionable  to  be  learned;  and 
though  the  play  of  the  punster  had  been  substituted  for 
the  graces  of  the  scholar ;  and  the  tinsel  of  alliteration 
glared  where  wit  had  flashed  and  fancy  sparkled;  still,  it 
was  an  age  of  knowledge,  and  the  edge  of  the  horizon  glowed 
and  the  rich,  full,  mellow  clouds  retained  much  lustre,  and 
exhibited  brilliant  tints  as  they  caught  and  refracted  the  rays 
of  departing  luminaries.  The  fifth  century  of  the  Christian 
era  was,  in  learning,  like  a  fine  evening  within  the  tropics ; 
the  short  interval  which  is  given  to  enjoy  a  glorious  view 
between  a  bright  day  of  burning  calm  and  a  night  of  thunder. 

Vandalic  rage  and  Pannonian  fury  ravaged  and  desolated 
the  West  and  the  centre.  Very  quickly  the  Saracen  swept 
the  East,  and  Moslem  infatuation  tore  from  Africa  what  the 
Goth  had  spared.  Shrouded  in  her  thick  mantle,  murky 
Ignorance  seemed  to  brood  in  stupid  satisfaction  over  the 
widespread  waste ;  and,  save  where  the  sacred  monastery  had 
collected  within  its  massy  walls » the  wrecks  of  ancient  genius, 
her  empire  was  generally  established. 

Ireland  had  been  spared  from  this  general  deluge,  and 
there,  as  in  another  ark,  were  preserved  the  means  of 
re-establishing  the  civilized  race  of  man.  Our  country  had 
then  acquired  the  title  of  Insula  Sanctorum,  from  the  piety 
of  its  people,  and  Imula  Doctorum,  from  the  learning  of  its 
sons.  In  the  next  age,  then,  we  find  her  missionaries  go 
forth  to  occupy  prominent  places  in  those  regions  which  had 
been  even  before  her  in  the  faith.  Italy  places  them  in  her 
sees,  Switzerland  acknowledges  them  as  her  apostles,  Gaul 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  15 

testifies  their  labors,  the  Low  Countries  are  the  great  scenes 
of  their  successful  exertions,  many  German  churches  acknowl- 
edge Irishmen  to  be  their  founders,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
Britain,  Ireland  labors  to  enlighten  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Norway;  and  Britain  herself  owes  to  Ireland  much  of  her 
erudition,  much  of  her  sanctity. 

The  venerable  Bede  testifies  what  we  find  recorded  in  our 
own  histories ;  but  as  it  is  fashionable  to  disbelieve  all  that 
has  been  written  of  Ireland,  except  by  a  calumniator  of 
the  people,  I  quote  nothing  upon  the  authority  of  any 
but  strangers  or  enemies.  Amongst  them  the  testimony  is 
uniform  and  uncontradicted,  that  in  Ireland  during  those 
ages  the  schools  were  in  the  perfection  of  vigor  and  the 
highest  credit ;  that  strangers  from  all  parts  of  Europe 
flocked  to  them  for  information.  So  usual  was  this  occur- 
rence, that  when  a  man  of  literary  note  was  discovered  to 
have  been  absent,  it  was  immediately  concluded,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  that  he  was  gone  to  Ireland.  Nor  was  this 
strange;  for  we  are  told  that,  not  only  were  the  lectures 
given  gratuitously  by  the  professors,  but  books  were  fur- 
nished, and  sometimes  even  food  and  raiment  provided,  for 
the  foreign  youth  who  crowded  to  the  asylum  which  our 
fathers  opened  for  the  genius  of  Europe. 

Amongst  others,  the  British  youth  were  by  no  means 
backward  in  availing  themselves  of  the  advantages  thus 
placed  within  their  reach.  This  is  testified  by  their  own 
historians.  Armagh  was  one  of  the  chief  of  those  schools, 
and  we  can  well  credit  the  statement,  that  it  contained  at 
one  time  seven  thousand  students. 

AVlien  the  Britons  had  been  subdued  by  the  Saxons,  and 
the  Saxons  assailed  by  the  Danes,  and  the  Danes  again 
expelled  by  the  Saxons,  the  state  of  learning  and  civiliza- 
tion in  England  was  low  indeed.  During  a  long  period  of 
this  time  the  island  of  our  progenitors  was  still  undisturbed, 
and  the  continent  of  Europe  was  laboring  in  the  revival  of 
letters.  Our  countrymen  had  founded  the  University  of 
Paris,  and  were  teaching  in  many  of  the  principal  schools 
of  the  continent. 


16  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

Amongst  others  of  the  principal  English  who  were  educated 
in  Ireland  was  Alfred,  the  father  of  English  liberty.  In  our 
schools  he  was  trained  to  letters;  in  Eome  and  in  Ireland  he 
imbibed  his  principles  in  legislation,  and  we  may  therefore 
fairly  claim  our  share  in  the  spirit  of  the  British  Constitu- 
tion, which,  though  much  injured,  still  is  a  fine  remnant  of 
what  once  was  good ;  a  system,  the  general  principles  of 
which  are  excellent,  but  the  administration  of  which  is 
corrupt ;  and  from  which  was  taken  that  theory  upon  which 
the  American  mind  has  so  successfully  employed  itself,  as  to 
have  developed  its  benefits,  lopped  off  its  excrescences,  and 
exhibited,  in  a  degree  of  comparative  perfection,  a  system 
whose  origin  we  are  proud  to  trace  to  spots  with  which  our 
apostle  was  so  intimately  connected. 

Ireland,  during  those  ages,  not  only  preserved  the  religion 
and  learning  of  her  own  children,  but  also  from  her  stock 
communicated  much  to  what  then  became  the  civilized  world. 

Our  country  was  not,  however,  destined  to  continue  in 
that  eminent  station  which  she  had  so  long  held.  Her  shores 
had  never  been  subject  to  the  Eoman.  But  another  nation, 
apparently  more  despicable,  but  really  more  formidable,  began 
to  issue  from  the  Baltic.  Normans  occupied  the  coast  of 
France.  Danes  drove  the  Saxons  from  their  settlements  in 
England.  Their  objects  at  first  were  only  plunder  and  devas- 
tation ;  they  next  took  up  positions  on  the  coast,  and  then 
aimed  at  possessing  the  dominion  of  the  country.  The  head 
of  the  venomous  destroyer  was  frequently  lopped  off;  but 
the  fens  of  Lerna  never  nurtured  a  more  multiplying  antag- 
onist than  the  defeated  and  yet  conquering  barbarian  of  the 
North.  He  sat  down  in  France,  he  occupied  England,  he 
assailed  Ireland.  Often  repulsed,  he  yet  returned,  and  at 
length  had  considerable  possessions  and  extensive  sway  in  our 
country.  Our  national  monarchs,  however,  continued  to  rule. 
It  is  not  my  province  to  dwell  upon  their  deeds  of  arms,  nor 
is  it  in  my  power,  without  unreasonably  encroaching  upon 
your  time,  to  allude  even  to  those  facts  which  shine  so 
brightly  emblazoned  upon  our  scroll  of  history.  I  shall  touch 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  17 

for    a    moment,  however,    upon   two,  which   are   the    first   that 
catch  my  eye. 

Successful  in  more  than  fifty  pitched  battles  against  the 
destroyers  of.  his  country,  the  enemies  of  his  religion,  the 
giants  of  rapine,  of  lust,  and  of  cruelty,  see  the  aged  king 
of  Ireland  heading  his  troops  on  the  memorable  plains  of 
Clontarf.  With  their  collected  forces,  urged  to  obstinacy  by 
despair,  and  wrathful  in  the  fury  of  their  pride  and  the  dis- 
appointment of  their  ambition,  the  Scandinavian  chiefs  prepare 
their  lines  for  the  encounter.  Sitric  closes  his  ranks,  inspires 
hope,  points  out  rewards,  promises  possessions,  exhorts  to 
revenge,  shows  the  plume  of  the  victor's  glory  within  the 
grasp  of  his  troops,  lifts  his  banner,  sounds  his  trumpet, 
and  shouts  defiance. 

The  Momonian  kerns  steadily  advance  —  the  Connaught 
galloglasses  briskly  charge  the  invaders ;  it  is  indeed  a  day 
of  blood  and  of  carnage ;  but  the  pride  of  the  Dane  has 
been  smitten ;  and  though  patriotism  and  virtue  must  rejoice 
nt  the  issue,  still  they  will  permit  humanity  to  weep  over  the 
bloody  field. 

It  was  on  Good  Friday — the  anniversary  of  the  Christian 
atonement.  The  venerable  Brian  Borhoime  thus  addressed 
the  heir  of  his  crown :  "  My  son,  I  leave  victory  in  your 
hands.  Secure  the  independence  of  your  country,  and  pre- 
serve its  honor.  But,  whilst  flushed  with  success,  do  not 
permit  unnecessary  destruction ;  save  the  vanquished,  and 
restrain  the  spirit  of  revenge.  A  God  of  mercy  has  been  our 
protector.  He  who  bled  on  Calvary  has  shed  the  lustre 
of  glory  on  our  harp.  Frequently  have  His  mercies  been 
extended  to  us  since  the  blessed  Patrick  first  published  His 
name  in  Tara ;  but  never,  my  son,  has  He  been  more  boun- 
tiful than  on  this  occasion,  on  the  anniversary  of  that  day 
when,  by  His  own  blood,  He  took  away  sin  from  His 
people,  He  has  enabled  us  to  wash  away  pollution  from  our 
shores  with  the  blood  of  the  oppressors  of  our  country.  I 
go,  my  son,  in  the  name  of  my  people,  to  return  thanks  for 
His  benefits.  I  go  alone  and  unarmed,  to  the  foot  of  that 


18  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

cross  which  I  have  erected  in  my  tent,  there  to  pour  out  my 
soul  in  gratitude,  and  to  discharge  those  great  duties  of 
religion  which  the  solemnity  of  the  day  requires,  and  which 
the  calculating  but  mistaken  enemy  of  our  religion  compelled 
us  to  defer.  To  you,  my  son,  I  leave  my  army,  my  blessing, 
and  my  instruction  to  remember  mercy  in  the  day  of  tri- 
umph ;  remember  the  glories  of  our  forefathers,  remember 
the  injunctions  of  our  God." 

Whilst  we  venerate  the  union  of  martial  prowess  and 
Christian  devotion  in  the  monarch  of  Munster,  shall  we  be 
accused  of  introducing  fiction  instead  of  history,  when  we 
weep  over  the  immolation  of  the  grayheaded  warrior,  at  the 
foot  of  that  same  cross,  by  three  fugitive  assassins  of  the 
vanquished  host?  And  though  they  fell  under  the  swords 
of  his  family,  who  arrived  in  sufficient  time  for  their  punish- 
ment, though  not  for  his  safety,  shall  we  be  sneered  at,  if, 
after  the  lapse  of  eight  centuries,  our  tear  of  sorrow  testifies 
our  lasting  affection,  and  our  prayer  for  his  rest  be  sent  up 
to  our  great  Redeemer,  as  a  supplement  to  the  chanting  of 
the  Requiem  upon  the  plains  of  Kilmainham  and  in  the 
Abbey  of  Swords? 

Whilst  the  self-devotion  of  a  Curtius  occupies  the  thoughts 
and  claims  the  admiration  of  the  reader  of  Roman  history, 
shall  the  heroes  of  Ireland  be  forgotten?  Much  indeed  which 
sober  reflection  would  censure,  and  the  dispassionate  judge 
must  condemn,  will  be  permitted  to  him  who  warmly  feels, 
and  is  forced  by  circumstances  to  decide  and  to  act  under 
the  influence  of  enthusiasm.  Yet  how  irrational  and  unmean- 
ing is  the  act  of  Curtius,  when  compared  with  the  conduct 
of  Failve  Loingscach,  the  commander  of  the  Irish  fleet,  who 
opposed  the  Danish  navy?  Long,  and  bloody,  and  obstinate 
was  the  fight,  and  doubtful  was  the  issue,  when  the  tug  of 
war  appeared  ready  to  snap  the  strength  of  either  force. 
Failve  saw,  and  remarked  to  those  who  surrounded  him,  that 
almost  the  entire  valor,  and  energy,  and  perseverance  of  his 
opponents  was  owing  to  the  judicious  bravery  of  their  com- 
mander, and  that,  if  he  were  removed,  the  Irish  navy  would 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

have  an  easy  triumph.  In  an  instant  the  leading  vessels  are 
side  by  side ;  grasping  his  opponent  in  his  arms,  the  Irish 
chieftain  leaps  into  the  ocean,  and  like  the  encounter  of  the 
finny  monarchs  of  the  deep  was  the  combat  of  the  champions, 
till,  clasped  in  the  embraces  of  'each  other  and  of  death,  they 
sunk  for  ever ;  and  the  strings  of  the  harp  gave  the  note  of 
lamentation  upon  the  breeze  which  flouted  the  green  flag  in 
the  imperfect  triumph  of  its  joyless  victory.  But  why  should 
I  dwell  upon  these  themes  ?  It  is  true  that 

"The  sun  has  grown  old,  since  Clontarf's  bloody  wave, 
Saw  them  sleep  the  sweet  sleep  of  the  patriot  brave.'' 

It  is  true,  that  nations,  which  were  not  then  even  in 
embryo,  now  rise  and  rule  the  destinies  of  the  world.  But 
we  do  not  like  to  be  cheated  out  of  our  recollections.  It  is 
true,  that  tongues,  which  then  were  the  rough  and  discordant 
combination  of  dissonant  jargons,  have  since  been  made 
smooth  by  use ;  but  still  we  love  the  sound  of  our  fathers' 
voices,  even  though  that  sound  should  be,  as  it  is,  but  the 
imperfect,  imitative  echo  which  can  be  gathered  from  the 
ruins  of  the  tomb,  and  which  issues  from  mouths  that  have 
been  filled  with  the  dust  of  ages.  These,  it  is  true,  are 
but  delusive  comforts;  but  how  many  of  our  comforts  are 
delusions !  And  if  the  delusion  be  innocent,  why  shall  we 
have  our  eyes  opened  to  a  painful,  to  a  remediless  reality? 

Yes,  the  days  of  Ireland's  glory  have  passed  away,  the 
epoch  of  her  misery  commences.  The  barbarians,  who  had 
been  thus  expelled,  had  plucked  away  the  foundations  of 
national  prosperity;  they  had  been  driven  from  the  land,  but 
not  before  they  had  crushed  religior,  destroyed  morality,  and 
torn  asunder  the  bonds  of  union  which  held  the  monarchs 
together.  After  fever  had  raged  and  the  crisis  had  taken 
place,  life  still  continued,  health  was  established,  but  the 
constitution  was  dreadfully  reduced.  The  restoration  of 
Church  government  was  commenced  and  considerable  progress 
was  making  under  St.  Laurence  O'Toole  in  Dublin  and  St. 
Malachy  in  Armagh;  but  the  profligacy  against  the  Prince 


20  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

of  Breffiny  led  to  disunion,  and  a  handful  of  English 
adventurers  aiding  the  disaffected  and  recreant  convict,  in 
the  jealousy  of  the  people,  and  the  quarrels  of  the  princes, 
that  edifice  of  national  prosperity  which  the  Danes  had 
undermined,  fell  amidst  the  struggles  of  its  inmates  and  the 
trifling  assault  of  a  few  strangers. 

Oh,  let  it  be  to  you  a  lesson  of  caution.  May  the  sad  fate 
of  my  country  create  in  you  vigilance  to  detect,  and  firmness 
to  restrain,  those  ambitious  and  immoral  individuals  who 
would  divide  a  people,  that  they  may  build  up  their  own 
fortunes  with  the  fragments  of  national  union. 

I  do  not  wish,  my  friends,  to  excite  in  you,  nor  to  revive 
in  myself,  those  feelings  of  pain  and  indignation  which  the 
subsequent  history  of  Ireland  is  but  too  wrcll  calculated  to 
create.  The  Danes  commenced  the  destruction  of  its  records 
and  the  system  of  its  disorganization.  Other  more  successful 
and  more  persevering  enemies  were  now  their  successors. 
It  was  asked  by  a  poet  subsequently  to  this  epoch,  Cur  lyra 
percussa,  funestas  edidit  sonores?  And  it  was  well  answered, 
that  the  sound  of  the  national  music  should  be  that  of 
mournful  melody,  because,  in  the  day  of  her  disaster,  her 
liberties  were  cloven  down,  her  children  were  devoted  to 
slavery,  she  was  seated  in  the  dust,  her  glory  was  tarnished, 
her  face  bedewed  with  tears,  the  testimonies  of  her  greatness 
were  torn  away  and  destroyed,  she  was  sprinkled  with 
obloquy,  even  sucklings  were  brought  to  laugh  at  her  wo 
and  to  mock  at  her  affliction.  A  proud  neighbor,  who  had 
plundered  her  of  her  jewels,  flung  the  garb  of  folly  on  her 
shoulders  and  pointed  her  out  to  the  derision  of  the  world. 
How  could  her  harp  be  tuned  to  mirth  and  revelry?  Well 
might  her  children  answer  as  did  God's  chosen  people  of 
old :  "  Upon  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  and  we 
wept,  when  we  remembered  Sion.  Upon  the  willows  in  the 
midst  thereof  we  hung  up  our  harps ;  because  there  they 
who  led  us  captive  asked  us  for  the  words  of  our  songs, 
and  they  who  led  us  away  said,  Sing  to  us  a  hymn  of  the 
canticles  of  Sion.  How  shall  we  sing  the  song  of  the  Lord 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  *        21 

in  a  strange  land?  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  may  my 
right  hand  be  forgotten :  may  my  tongue  cleave  to  my  jaws 
if  I  do  not  remember  thee — if  I  do  not  place  Jerusalem 
as  the  beginning  of  my  joy."  Yes,  my  friends,  human 
nature  is  the  same  in  every  age  and  throughout  the  world. 
The  Israelite  in  Babylon,  and  the  Irishman  in  his  own  land 
of  streams,  equally  felt  the  hand  of  the  oppressor.  I  shall 
not  continue.  But,  how  could  the  music  of  my  country  not 
be  mournful  melody? 

I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  misrepresentations  of  hired 
traducers  which  have  been  substituted  for  our  history.  I 
shall  not  remind  you  of  the  horrible  falsehoods  which  have 
been  deliberately  given  to  the  world  by  the  enemies  of  our 
fathers.  I  shall  not  tell  of  the  legalized  plunder,  of  the  per- 
secution of  centuries,  by  which  it  was  sought  to  change  the 
religion  of  a  nation,  and  by  which  the  rights  of  conscience 
were  destroyed  by  those  who  proclaimed  themselves  to  the 
world  as  the  only  supporters  of  those  rights.  We,  my 
friends,  differ  very  much  in  our  religious  doctrines,  yet  we 
live  in  the  harmony  of  affection,  each  respecting  the  rights 
of  his  friend,  and  claiming  for  himself  what  he  concedes 
to  his  brother.  We  can  weep  over  the  crimes  of  those 
who  have  ruined  our  country,  and  we  can  learn  wisdom 
from  the  exhibition  of  their  havoc,  and  better  appreciate 
the  blessings  of  which  we  are  here  made  partakers. 

To  one  fact  only  will  I  briefly  advert,  and  it  stands 
unparalleled,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  in  the  records  of 
of  public  perfidy.  Who  does  not  anticipate  the  recital  of 
the  breach  of  faith  by  William  and  Mary?  After  many 
struggles  in  our  unfortunate  country,  when  all  the  pros- 
pects for  the  hunted  Catholics  of  Ireland  were  confined  to 
whatever  opening  the  force  of  their  army  could  make,  and 
when  that  army,  after  some  of  the  vicissitudes  of  war, 
bravely  defended  the  citadel  of  Limerick,  and  when  the 
prudent  Ginkle  saw  that  the  issue  was  not  so  certain  as 
the  sanguine  advocates  of  his  party  had  promised,  he  agreed 
upon  terms  of  capitulation,  which  were  confirmed  by  the 


22       .  EPOCHS    OF  HUSH  UISTORY. 

person  then  called  to  fill  the  British  throne,  and  by 
his  queen.  By  this  agreement  the  Catholic  garrisons  were 
delivered  up,  the  army  was  disbanded,  and  William  was 
acknowledged  as  their  lawful  king,  but  lie  in  return  was 
to  leave  them  unmolested  upon  the  score  of  religion,  and 
to  confirm  in  the  possession  of  their  estates  those  who  had 
not  been  previously  plundered  on  account  of  their  faith, 
under  the  pretext  of  rebellion. 

A  generous  people,  under  the  impression  that  the  royal 
word  was  sacred  and  the  national  guarantee  of  a  public 
treaty  was  inviolable,  gave  up  their  posts,  laid  down  their 
arms,  and  prepared  to  worship  God,  and  to  cultivate  their 
lands ;  when  a  British  parliament  pretended  that  the  king 
had  exceeded  his  powers,  and  persecuted  and  worried  the 
defenceless  and  betrayed  people  who  mistook  its  character ; 
and  yet  this  parliament  modestly  charged  its  deluded  victims 
with  holding  as  a  principle  that  no  faith  was  to  be  kept  with 
heretics !  Dark  and  more  dark  are  the  tints  in  which  the 
times  must  be  painted.  Let  us  not  too  closely  view  the 
picture.  Oh,  well  do  I  recollect  the  relations  of  my  aged 
countrymen,  when,  seated  on  their  knees,  I  listened  to  the 
tales  of  their  sufferings,  and  the  reality  of  the  evils  which 
they  endured  from  the  men  who  claimed  pre-eminence  in 
civilized  society,  exceeded  the  descriptions  of  romance.  The 
highly  colored  tints  of  the  poet,  who  writes  to  make  his 
readers  weep,  are  light  and  vapid  when  contrasted  with  the 
glowing  streaks  of  oppression  which  may  be  traced  on  the 
humbled  children  of  Ireland.  How  often  have  I  wept  at 
the  escapes  and  the  endurance  of  my  grandsires !  Their  lot 
was  humble,  because  they  professed  the  religion  of  their 
progenitors.  Never,  never  whilst  memory  holds  her  seat 
shall  I  forget  the  story  of  the  woes  of  my  father,  which 
with  tears  he  related  to  me  to  prove  my  comparative  happi- 
ness ;  for  he  narrowly  escaped  the  fate  of  a  felon,  because, 
without  changing  his  religion,  he  dared  to  explore  the 
vestibule  of  science ; l  and  yet  the  people  of  Ireland 

i  Vide  MEMOIR. 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  23 

are  accused  of  being  ignorant !  Oh,  my  friends,  what 
is  that  policy  which  barbarizes,  and  then  reproaches  you 
with  barbarism?  It  is  true  that,  in  comparison  with 
my  progenitors  of  a  few  centuries,  my  trials  have  been 
nothing. — But,  thank  God,  I  at  length  breathe  the  air  of  a 
freeman,  and  no  one  reproaches  me  with  the  causes  of  my 
glory — that  I  am  sprung  from  a  country  which  was  civilized 
before  others  were  discovered ;  that  my  religion  is  coeval 
with  Christianity,  coextensive  with  civilization. 

How  many  of  her  sons  did  this  desolate  mother  send  out 
to  signalize  themselves  upon  the  continent  of  Europe  during 
this  lengthened  persecution.  How  much  literature  did  she 
preserve  in  her  bogs,  on  hc-r  mountains,  and  in  her  morasses, 
notwithstanding  the  laws  which  were  enacted  against  learning, 
unless  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  creed  of  her  people.  Thus 
was  she  glorious  even  in  the  day  of  her  dejection. 

But  a  moment  is  found  for  the  mind  to  rest  without 
torture  in  the  examination.  Let  us,  however,  keep  to  our 
object,  and  before  we  come  to  that  moment,  let  us  draw  the 
conclusions,  and  establish  our  moral.  O,  ter  quaterque  beati, 
may  we  pronounce  the  sons  of  America — not  for  having 
fallen  under  their  walls  without  having  witnessed  the  ruin 
of  their  country — but  for  enjoying  all  the  blessings  of 
freedom  without  having  tasted  the  bitterness  of  slavery,  and 
without  having  experienced  the  afflictions  of  persecution. 
O,  nimium  felices  si  sua  bona  norint.  They  do  not  value 
the  mighty  benefits,  the  want  of  which  they  have  never 
experienced.  Let  them  see  an  island  rich  in  soil  and 
blooming  in  culture,  yet  a  prey  to  every  species  of  tyranny 
and  despotism,  filled  with  crime  and  a  charnel-house  from 
the  executioner ;  these  are  the  lamentable  consequences  of 
sectional  and  sectarian  broils;  the  force  of  her  people  is 
broken,  their  energies  are  paralyzed,  and  they  are  the  prey 
of  a  despicable  oligarchy,  because  they  permit  themselves 
to  be  foolishly  excited  and  wickedly  played  off  against  each 
other.  Oh,  tell  it  to  you/  children  and  to  your  children's 
children,  and  let  them  transmit  the  moral  to  your  latest 


24  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

descendants.  My  country  has  been  ruined  because  her  people 
were  parcelled  into  parties,  and  the  parties  were  like  the 
offspring  of  the  dragon's  teeth,  armed  for  mutual  destruction. 
The  balmy  air  of  charity  surrounds  and  invigorates  us  here. 
Oh,  may  it  never  be  tainted ! 

But  this  folly  could  not  last  forever,  and  the  human 
mind,  left  to  itself,  would  soon  trace  the  causes,  and  the 
human  heart,  unbiassed,  would  yearn  for  their  removal. 
The  progress  of  nature  must  be  the  same  in  Ireland  as  else- 
where, and  men  of  understanding  and  of  honesty  saAV  the 
causes  and  were  anxious  to  remove  them.  The  Presbyterians 
of  the  North,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  cherished 
in  their  bosoms  the  flame  of  patriotism  and  the  glow  of 
humanity.  Ulster  nobly  showed  that  Ireland,  uninfluenced 
by  external  causes,  would  still  rise  to  her  proper  place,  and 
never  did  a  more  cheering  light  break  in  upon  a  benighted 
people  than  that  which  those  brave  men  then  created.  Many 
distinguished  members  of  the  Established  Church  also,  as  far 
as  the  private  exertions  of  individuals  could  redeem  the 
character  of  a  body,  did  try  to  aid  'their  afflicted  Catholic 
countrymen,  and  thus  rescue  themselves  from  that  obloquy 
which  the  conduct  of  the  united  Church  and  State  had  flung 
upon  the  British  nation. 

A.  host  of  intellect  was  marshalled  under  the  banner  of 
national  feeling.  Never  till  then  was  such  a  galaxy  of  genius 
exhibited  in  so  small  a  portion  of  the  firmament.  Never 
before  did  so  many  brilliant  stars  glow  so  conspicuously 
distinguishable  amidst  such  a  flood  of  light.  The  place  of 
a  standing  army  was  supplied  by  the  patriotic  volunteers  of 
Ireland.  Dungannon  seemed  to  be  the  fountain  whence 
salutary  and  refreshing  streams  of  pure  principle  were  to- 
flow  through  the  land  and  to  give  health  to  the  nation. 
The  mighty  mass  began  to  move,  and  that  which  had  become 
putrescent  from-  stagnation  was  becoming  purified  as  it  was 
agitated ;  the  impulse  was  communicated  to  the  very  citadel 
of  corruption,  and  even  what  was  called  the  Irish  parlia- 
ment was  forced  for  once  to  speak  the  voice  of  the  Irish 


EPOCHS   OF    IRISH  HISTORY.  '  25 

nation.  It  was  too  soon,  however,  to  detect  the  falsehoods 
which  had  so  long  been  circulated  as  history;  there  was 
neither  time  nor  inclination  as  yet  to  examine  into  the 
calumnies  which  had  been  sedulously  propagated  against 
the  creed  and  the  principles  of  the  Roman  Catholics ;  but 
though  they  were  by  many  good  but  deceived  men  thought 
to  be  unfit  for  liberty  and  undeserving  of  kindness,  still, 
even  common  humanity  shrunk  back  from  the  glimpse  of 
their  degradation  and  afflictions,  and  men  who  had  during 
the  greater  portion  of  two  centuries  been  treated  with  the 
most  unparalleled  barbarity,  were  almost  goaded  into  bar- 
barism. No  wonder  that  the  good  men  who  were  inclined 
to  acts  of  kindness  should  almost  believe  the  fictitious 
atrocities  of  former  times  to  have  been  facts,  when  they  met 
with  suspicion  and  reserve  where  they  sought  for  confidence 
that  they  might  be  beneficent;  when  they  observed  that  the 
hand  which  they  unbound  sometimes  grasped  a  weapon  of 
defence.  Nor  can  it  be  to  us  a  matter  of  surprise  that  a 
being  who  has  been  frequently  deceived  to  his  serious  injury 
by  persons  of  a  particular  class,  should  be  cautious  of  con- 
fiding in  any  individual  of  that  body,  how  pure  soever  may 
be  his  motive  for  seeking  reliance,  and  how  beneficent  soever 
may  be  his  intention,  and  however  fair  may  be  -  the  appear- 
ances. Neither  can  we  be  astonished  that  he,  who  has  been 
sorely  distressed,  and  is  still  under  mitigated  persecution, 
should  sometimes  seek  to  retaliate  even  upon  a  man  who, 
though  less  cruel  than  his  predecessor,  is  yet  unjust.  Thus, 
the  very  natural  conduct  of  men,  who  had  been  almost 
brutalized  by  oppression,  too  often  leads  the  unreflecting  to 
believe  that  they  must  have  been  originally  barbarians.  And 
he  who  would  justify  the  oppression  will  very  naturally  seize 
upon  so  plausible  a  pretext  for  its  justification,  and  will 
forge  testimony  to  prove  the  pretended  necessity  of  the 
original  crime.  The  mind  is  carried  away  in  the  vortex  of 
some  passion,  in  the  midst  of  those  scenes.  It  is  next  to 
impossible  but  to  belong  to  a  party.  But  here  you  are  fitted 
for  calm  and  rational  investigation.  Here  is  to  be  found  an 


26  -  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

inquiring  mind,  a  patience  of  research,  a  solicitude  for  knowl- 
edge ;  and,  although  hitherto  America  has  been  generally 
deceived  in  its  taking  the  history  of  our  country  from  the 
writings  of  its  enemies,  still  I  cherish  the  hope,  and  I  feel 
pleased  in  the  anticipation,  that  the  people  of  this  Union 
will  be  the  first  to  do  justice  to  the  land  of  my  fathers ;  for 
there  certainly  does  exist,  if  I  be  not  greatly  deceived,  a 
strong  sympathy  between  the  land  of  my  birth  and  the  land 
of  my  adoption,  and  never  was  mind  better  fitted  for  dispas- 
sionate research  after  truth,  than  that  which  I  meet  with 
every  day. 

But  to  leave  this  digression.  In  1782  Ireland  almost 
"became  a  nation.  There,  unfortunately,  the  interest  of  the 
people  was  not  that  of  the  government,  and  we  observe  the 
•cortsequence.  The  volunteers  are  separated ;  some  of  the 
leading  talent  is  purchased.  A  new  scene,  however,  comes 
under  our  observation.  The  Synod  of  Ulster  is  pure;  never 
in  a  body  was  there  found  more  true  patriotism  than  in  the 
body  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy  of  Ireland  of  that  day. 
Possessing  the  confidence  of  their  flocks,  and  standing  aloof 
from  the  Castle  of  Dublin  and  its  contaminating  influence, 
they  were  feared  and  respected;  they  loved  the  country, 
they  took  pity  upon  the  oppressed  Catholic,  they  were  joined 
l>y  many  of  the  best,  and  bravest,  and  most  virtuous  lay- 
members  of  the  Established  Church,  they  gave  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship  to  the  Catholic,  and  they  formed  a  brotherhood 
of  Irishmen  of  all  religious  persuasions.  These  United 
Irishmen  intended  to  have  done  their  country  service.  The 
Hon.  Robert  Stuart,  subsequently  better  known  as  Lord 
Castlereagh,  was  their  first  chairman.  This  holy  alliance 
should  be  broken  up,  or  the  people  of  Ireland  must  be  no 
longer  oppressed.  Their  objects  were  simple,  and  substan- 
tial, and  just,  and  constitutional  —  to  obtain  a  fair  represen- 
tation of  the  people  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  to 
put  an  end  to  persecution  on  the  score  of  religion.  The 
attainment  of  these  objects  would  have  healed  the  evils  of 
the  country,  but  would  not  have  suited  the  views  of  the 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  27 

oligarchy  which  had  long  been  the  bane  of  the  kingdom. 
The  Presbyterians  were  told  that,  as  being  Protestants,  they 
should  receive  some  aid  towrrJs  the  support  of  their  clergy, 
and  the  regium  donuin  by  which  the  ministers  were  made 
dependent  upon  the  bounty  of  the  crown  instead  of  the 
benevolence  of  the  people,  broke  down  their  fine  spirit  of 
patriotic  independence,  and  made  them  an  appendage  of  the 
British  throne  —  a  body  that  must  be  obsequious  to  the 
executive,  or  be  in  indigence.  The  Catholic  aristocracy,  con- 
sisting of  some  peers  and  baronets,  and  a  few  of  the  old 
proprietors,  who  almost  miraculously  had  preserved,  through 
a.  thousand  perils,  some  remnants  of  their  estates,  were 
easily  brought  over,  the  principal  bishops  were  cajoled, 
and  flattered,  and  deceived,  and  the  elective  franchise  and  a 
few  other  benefits  were  conferred  upon  the  Catholics,  and 
the  torch  of  religious  discussion  was  lit  up  amongst  the 
people  that  they  might  be  divided  and  governed;  and  the 
same  Lord  Castlereagh  was,  on  the  part  of  the  government, 
the  man  who  principally  regulated  this  destruction.  Thus, 
again,  by  sectarian  hatred  were  the  hopes  of  the  nation 
destroyed.  I  confine  myself  to  this  moral.  This  is  enough. 
Here  we  have  religious  differences ;  but  here  we  freely 
•discuss  religious  topics  in  language  respectful  to  the  feelings 
of  each  other ;  here  each  follows  the  conviction  of  his  own 
mind,  and  is  accountable  only  at  the  tribunal  of  that  God 
who  will  judge  us  all,  and  to  whom  only  we  stand  or  fall, 
and  He  alone  can  clearly  decide  who  is  obstinately  or  care- 
lessly wrong,  and  who  is  innocently  and  invincibly  ignorant 
of  His  truth,  and  His  justice  requires  the  condemnation  of 
the  former,  but  His  mercy  protects  the  latter.  Whilst  we 
sedulously  inquire,  and  freely  discuss,  we  must  leave  to  Him 
His  exclusive  prerogative,  that  of  deciding  upon  the  merit 
and  the  fate  of  individuals.  He  who,  positively  certain  of 
his  adhesion  to  truth,  would  call  down  fire  from  heaven 
upon  unbelieving  cities  or  obstinate  individuals,  knows  not 
by  what  spirit  he  is  led.  It  is  the  pride  of  human  passion, 
and  not  the  ardor  of  religious  zeal.  Persecution  makes  hypo- 


28  EPOCHS    OF  IRISII  HISTORY. 

crites ;  to  hate  a  person  even  for  infidelity  is  a  crime 
against  charity,  and  to  grasp  the  sword  to  punish  for  unbelief 
is  to  usurp  the  seat  of  the  judging  Son  of  Man.  I  do 
not  know  of  any  other  to  whom  that  commission  has  been 
given.  No  person  who  wants  charity  will  enter  heaven, 
and  to  usurp  the  exclusive  office  of  the  Redeemer  is  not 
the  best  ground  on  which  a  claim  of  salvation  can  rest.  I 
possess  evidence  of  truth,  but  I  cannot,  without  being  able 
to  inspect  the  mind  of  him  who  differs  from  me,  possess 
evidence  that  he  knows  himself  to  be  in  opposition  to  truth. 
Free  discussion  and  difference  of  doctrine  are  perfectly  com- 
patible with  affection  and  charity.  But  hatred,  and  religious 
discord,  and  persecution  have  destroyed  many  nations  and 
ruined  many  souls.  Let  us  learn  wisdom  from  the  misfor- 
tunes of  my  country. 

One  little  remnant  yet  is  to  be  found  of  what  approaches 
to  independence.  It  is  like  the  solitary  column  which  lifts 
its  capital  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins  of  what  Avas  once  a 
splendid  temple.  You  may  judge  of  what  the  entire  had 
been,  by  inspecting  the  proportions  and  the  workmanship 
of  this  relic,  and  surveying  the  extent  of  the  fragments  by 
which  it  is  surrounded.  When  all  was  perfect,  the  parts 
gave  mutual  support,  and  the  edifice  combined  strength  and 
beauty.  Now,  this  unprotected  piece  is  blown  upon  by  every 
wind  and  must  bear  the  brunt  of  every  storm,  and,  indeed, 
it  must  have  been  originally  well  constructed  to  survive  in 
its  isolated  grandeur.  Do  not  blame  me  when  I  tell  you, 
I  feel  proud  at  saying,  this  is  the  body  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  of  Ireland. 

These  men  have  always  shared  the  afflictions  of  the  people 
in  a  twofold  proportion.  From  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 
who  numbers  his  predecessors  up  to  St.  Patrick,  to  the 
youngest  priest  with  whom  I  was  associated,  I  speak  what 
I  know,  when  I  assert  that  they  were  enlightened,  liberal, 
and  virtuous,  and  that,  although  they  felt  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  preserve  th,e  peace  of  the  land,  and  to  soothe  the 
irritation  of  the  people,  they  also  felt  deeply  for  the  wrongs 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  29 

of  their  country.  They  withstood  the  insult  of  mockery,  the 
superciliousness  of  privileged  petulance,  the  rude  ignorance 
of  a  saucy  squirearchy,  the  allurements  of  those  who  proffered 
bribes,  and  the  threats  of  those  who  were  in  power.  Once, 
and  once  only,  was  the  apostolic  simplicity  of  a  portion  of 
the  bishops  almost  overreached  by  the  wiles  of  the  destroyer 
of  his  country.  Lord  Castlereagh  offered  to  relieve  the 
people  from  the  burden  of  supporting  their  clergy,  and 
requested  to  know  whether  in  return  the  government  could 
obtain  security  that  none  but  loyal  men  should  be  promoted 
to  bishoprics,  so  that,  through  the  superintendence  of  such 
men  as  might  be  safely  relied  upon,  the  loyalty  of  the  whole 
clerical  body  might  be  confirmed.  The  four  archbishops  and 
six  bishops,  who  were  trustees  of  the  college  which  had  then 
been  just  established,  were  thus  led  to  say  that  they  con- 
sidered the  proposition  one  which  was  reasonable  and  which 
ought  to  be  acceded  to.  Unused  to  the  chicane  of  politicians, 
or  to  the  duplicity  of  courtiers,  they  judged  of  the  honesty 
of  others  by  the  standard  of  their  own  unsuspecting  integrity, 
and  the  wily  statesman,  having  obtained  their  assent  to  a 
principle  of  concession,  suffered  the  whole  transaction  to  lie 
as  if  unobserved  and  forgotten,  until  in  due  time,  upon  the 
pressure  of  the  petitions  of  the  people  for  their  rights,  a 
hint  was  given  that,  if  this  principle  was  carried  into 
practice,  and  the  king  allowed  a  negative  upon  the  appoint- 
ment of  bishops,  some  little  new  indulgence  would  be 
granted,  and  if  a  secretary  of  state  was  made  the  organ  of 
communication  '  between  the  bishops  and  the  Pope,  perhaps 
a  little  more  might  be  added.  The  bishops,  the  priests, 
and  the  people,  horrified  at  the  proposal,  exclaimed  with 
one  voice  against  the  mischief  which  they  now  saw  impend- 
ing. The  former  concession  of  the  principle  was  pleaded, 
but  the  good  men  protested  that  they  had  been  deceived. 
Thus  was  the  country  agitated  by  the  question  of  the 
veto  and  the  arrangements,  and  the  people  again  embroiled 
upon  a  question  of  religion,  that  they  might  be  divided 
and  oppressed. 


30  EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

Well  do  I  remember  the  history  of  this  contest,  for 
though  my  place  was  insignificant,  I  had  my  post  in  the 
field,  and  it  was  on  the  side  of  the  people.  The  clergy 
joined  their  bishops  in  declaring  that  they  would  subsist 
upon  the  voluntary  donations  of  their  flocks,  rather  than 
be  enriched  to  the  manifest  danger  of  the  purity  of  their 
religion,  and  with  the  jealousy  of  the  people.  The  people 
exclaimed :  "  You  may  regulate  religious  concerns  as  you 
will,  that  is  the  province  of  the  bishops ;  but  the  instant 
you  accept  a  pension  from  the  government  you  forfeit  our 
confidence,  for  you  become  the  slaves  of  the  crown,  spies 
upon  your  flocks.  Look  to  Ulster ;  see  what  the  rcyium 
donum  has  done.  We  have  but  a  small  remnant  of  the 
liberties  of  our  country,  you  are  as  yet  uncontaminated ; 
every  body  which  the  government  has  come  in  contact  of 
friendship  with  has  been  polluted ;  touch  it  and  we  separate 
from  you.  We  are  jealous  of  your  virtue,  we  love  what  has 
been  left  of  our  freedom."  This  was  their  language;  this 
is  called  agitation.  As  yet,  thank  God,  this  clergy  and  this 
people  have  withstood  the  storm.  But  this  relic  of  the 
national  fabric  is  daily  assailed.  May  God  protect  and 
preserve  it;  for  it  yet  shows  in  a  pious  and  patriotic  priest- 
hood what  Ireland  might  have  been.  May  God  long  preserve 
the  liberties  of  America  from  any  union  of  any  Church  with 
any  State !  In  any  country,  with  any  religion,  it  is  an 
unnatural  increase  of  the  power  of  the  executive  against 
the  liberties  of  the  people. 

No  wonder  that  from  a  country  like  this  the  emigrant 
should  arrive  upon  your  shores,  with  his  feelings  sore  and 
his  passions  excited  and  burning  with  recollections.  He 
loves  to  remain  near  those  spots  which  his  fathers  have 
inhabited  during  centuries,  spots  which  are  blended  with  the 
reminiscences  of  childhood,  with  the  joys  of  his  youth ;  those 
spots  upon  which  his  friends  are  still  found.  Oh !  he  loves 
his  country  and  his  friends,  but  he  cannot  endure  to  bo 
scourged  with  scorpions  by  strangers  who  have  been  placed 
as  his  taskmasters ;  and  he  cannot  banish  all  his  recollections 


EPOCHS    OF  IRISH  HISTORY.  31 

even  amidst  the  endearing  attachments  which  he  makes   in  a 
land  of  freemen. 

It  will  then  be  permitted  to  us  this  day  to  enjoy  the 
melancholy  gratification  of  contemplating  the  former  greatness 
of  our  country,  and  going  back  in  spirit  and  affection  to  the 
laud  of  our  fathers,  to  the  island  of  shamrocks,  to  the 
emerald  gem  of  the  ocean,  for 

'Though  glory  be  gone,  and  though  hope  fade  away, 
Yet  thy  name,  loved  Erin,  shall  live  in  our  songs; 

Not  even  in  the  hour  when  this  heart  is  most  gay, 
Shall  it  lose  the  remembrance  of  thee  and  thy  wrongs. 

The  stranger  shall  hear  us  lament  on  his  plains, 
The  sigh  of  our  harp  shall  be  sent  o'er  the  deep, 

Till  thy  masters  themselves,  as  they  rivet  thy  chains, 
Shall  pause  at  the  song  of  their  captive  and  weep. 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.1 


IT  is  related  that  St.  John  the  Evangelist  was  once 
observed  by  a  hunter,  amusing  himself  with  a  bird.  The 
astonishment  manifested  in  the  countenance  of  the  observer, 
who  remained  gazing  intently,  was  soon  noticed  by  the 
apostle,  and  he  inquired  for  its  cause.  "  I  am  struck  with 
amazement,"  replied  the  hunter,  "to  see  you,  who  are  so 
much  esteemed  for  wisdom  and  sanctity,  employed  in  so 
trivial  an  occupation!  How  unlike  is  your  present  position 
to  that  which  you  are  generally  supposed  to  hold?"  The 
saint  remarked  that  his  observer's  bowstring  was  loose,  and 
inquired  why  he  did  not  keep  it  tight.  "  Were  I  to  do  so," 
said  the  hunter,  "my  bow  would  loose  its  elasticity,  and 
soon  become  useless."  "  The  human  mind,"  observed  the 
evangelist,  "is  like  your  instrument;  it  would  be  destroyed 
by  perpetual  tension."  Whatever  position,  then,  it  may  be 
your  lot  to  occupy  in  the  employments  of  the  world,  you 
will  need  to  apply  the  energies  of  your  mind  to  the  proper 
discharge  of  its  duties.  The  grave  study  of  the  law,  the 
deep  reflections  of  medical  science,  the  absorbing  cares  of 
political  life,  the  intense  application  to  business,  the  deep 
interest  of  your  family  concerns,  your  sympathy  for  friends, 
and  a  thousand  other  importunate  demands  will  draw  largely 
upon  your  time  and  upon  your  feelings,  and  will  compel 
exertion;  —  but  you  will  also  feel  the  necessity  of  relaxation. 
So  that,  in  fact,  its  regulation  is  one  of  the  most  important 
concerns  of  life ;  and  the  neglect  of  its  arrangement  is  preg- 

>An  address  delivered  before  the  Demosthenian  and  Phi  Kappa  Societies  of 
Franklin  College,  Athens,  Georgia,  August  5,  1810. 

(32) 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        33 

nant  with  the  most  dangerous   consequences   to   youth  and  to 
manhood. 

Some  persons,  at  an  early  age,  under  pretext  of  relaxation, 
contract  habits  which  become  in  after  life  the  sources  of 
their  ruin.  It  is  one  of  the  misfortunes  of  our  nature,  that 
they  who  have  been  the  victims  of  crime  are  almost  neces- 
sarily thereafter  its  abettors,  and  this  not  merely  upon  the 
well-observed  principle  which  spreads  its  influence  over  every 
ago  and  every  nation,  Solamen  miscris  soeios  habuisse  doloris ; 
there  is  not  only  a  malicious  satisfaction  in  knowing  and 
exhibiting  that  we  are  not  without  associates  in  our  degra- 
dation and  our  depravity ;  but  they  who  have  exhausted 
their  own  springs  of  indulgence  in  dissipation,  feel  it 
necessary  to  have  companions  who  yet  possess  a  supply 
that  will  suffice  for  both.  At  a  time,  then,  when  experience 
lias  not  brought  caution,  when  passion  is  strong,  when  the 
desire  of  novelty  is  great,  when,  under  the  alluring  names 
of  liberty  and  independence,  wholesome  restraints  arc  easily 
laid  aside,  and  the  buoyant  spirit  of  youth  loves  indulgence, 
cunning  self-interest  frequently  bestows  the  name  of  necessary 
recreation  upon  those  pursuits  which  degrade  and  destroy, 
and  thus  seduces  the  generous  and  the  inexperienced  into 
habits  which  are  easily  formed,  but  which  it  requires  time, 
labor,  and  perseverance  to  overcome.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  copious  sources  of  intoxication,  of  licentiousness,  of 
idleness,  and  of  dissipation ;  by  these  the  peace,  the  honor, 
the  property,  and  the  respectability  of  families  are  destroyed, 
and  they,  who  might  have  been  the  ornaments  of  their  State 
and  the  benefactors  of  their  race,  sink  dishonored  to  an  early 
grave,  occasioning  grief  and  drawing  tears  from  their  survi- 
vors, not  so  much  for  their  departure,  but  because  of  their 
havoc  and  their  disgrace. 

The  relaxations  of  uncivilized  nations  are  for  the  most 
part  characterized  by  their  vulgarity,  their  cruelty,  or  their 
licentiousness ;  and  as  men  are  raised  upon  the  scale  of 
refinement,  their  amusements  generally  lose  many  of  these 
marks.  The  cultivation  of  literature  is  one  of  the  ordinary 


34       THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

and  natural  means  of  thus  elevating  man,  and  hence  it 
lias  been,  at  an  early  period,  well  observed :  Ingcnuas 
dldlcisse  fidelitcr  artes  cmmoiit  mores  ncc  sinit  csse  feros.  The 
boisterous  whoop,  the  rude  familiarity,  the  dangerous  jostle, 
the  exhibition  of  grotesque  mummery,  the  casting  of  ridicule 
upon  our  fellows,  or  exhibiting  them  in  awkward  predica- 
ments in  the  view  of  others,  are,  to  many  persons  of  vulgar' 
feelings,  sources  of  infinite  amusement;  and  they  who  thus 
delight  in  the  annoyance  of  their  associates  are  persons  who 
would,  for  similar  treatment  in  respect  to  themselves,  seek 
a  marked  revenge. 

Our  feelings  are  not  unfrequently  put  to  unpleasant  trials 
at  even  reading  the  description  of  the  tortures  inflicted  upon 
their  prisoners,  by  savage  tribes,  and  the  enjoyment  which 
the  suffering  affords  to  the  cruel  executioner.  Nor  docs 
history  confine  the  recital  to  the  deeds  of  such  rude  hordes. 
The  arena  of  the  amphitheatre  witnessed  the  shouts  of  the 
delighted  multitude,  whilst  its  sand  drank  up  the  expiring 
gladiator's  blood,  or  yet  exposed  the  reeking  fragments  of 
the  half-devoured  bodies  of  Christian  victims  which  the  beasts 
of  prey  tore  for  the  entertainment  of  their  no  less  savage 
beholders.  Surely  I  need  not  draw  your  attention  to  the 
excitement  of  beasts  and  even  birds,  and  the  arming  them 
for  mutual  destruction,  to  afford  the  opportunity  of  relaxation 
and  enjoyment,  united  to  the  indulgence  of  their  love  of 
gambling,  to  men  said  to  be  respectable.  What  a  spectacle 
to  behold!  A  man  whose  mind  is  cast  in  the  most  perfect 
mould,  and  upon  whose  character  and  conduct  a  lovely 
family  has  rested  all  its  hope,  to  whom  a  vicinage  looks  for 
its  weight  and  its  respectability,  forgetting  his  proper  place 
and  madly  risking  the  means  of  fortune  and  of  fame  for 
himself  and  for  others  upon  the  superior  instinct  for  destruc- 
tion or  the  fortuitous  exposure  or  activity  of  a  poor  bird, 
thus  unnaturally  excited  and  thus  wickedly  armed !  Do 
these  cruel  sports  add  dignity  to  our  nature  ?  Do  they 
confer  benefits  upon  society?  I  shall  not  speak  of  the  more 
criminal  and  more  destructive  and  degrading  dissipation  to 


THE  PLEASURES    OF   THE   SC1IOLAU.  35 

which  idleness  conducts,  to  which  excess  stimulates,  and 
for  which  the  other  indulgences  usually  prepare.  How 
extensive  is  the  blight  that  has  been  produced  by  their 
united  influence ! 

Relaxation  is  necessary,  but  it  should  be  rational.  It 
ought  to  be  suited  to  renew  our  powers  without  destroying 
our  morals  or  impairing  our  standing  in  society.  And 
surely  no  one  will  pretend  that  our  faculties  are  improved, 
or  that  our  powers  of  mind  or  body  are  renewed,  preserved 
or  invigorated  by  the  indulgence  in  pursuits  which  necessarily 
demoralize.  Such  habits  not  only  relax  the  vigor  of  our 
mental  faculties,  but  they  undermine  even  the  bodily  powers. 
There  is  an  inherent  respect  and  love  for  virtue  in  the 
human  mind,  which  even  the  most  depraved  course  of  vice 
cannot  utterly  destroy,  and  which  no  power  of  sophistry  can 
delude.  I  have  conversed  in  his  dungeon  with  the  outcast 
of  society,  and  whilst  he  braved  the  scorn  of  the  world  and 
affected  to  despise  its  condemnation,  he  avowed  that  he  could 
not  extinguish  the  glimmerings  of  conscience  nor  be  insen- 
sible to  its  reproof.  And  whilst  in  defiance  of  mankind  he 
lifted  himself  in  the  bad  spirit  of  unyielding  pride  even  to 
blaspheme  the  God  of  heaven  and  to  deny  the  sanctions 
of  virtue,  his  heart  quailed  at  his  own  misconduct,  whilst 
he  sought  to  make  the  recklessness  of  despair  pass  for  the 
courage  that  accompanies  the  convictions  of  truth.  Thus  it 
is  that  the  agonies  of  self-reproach  consume  the  force  of  the 
understanding,  enervate  the  soul,  and  drive  the  criminal  from 
the  calm  pursuit  of  truth  and  the  industrious  collection  of 
knowledge,  to  seek  for  protection  against  his  inward  monitor, 
by  recurring  to  the  distractions  of  external  dissipation  and 
sometimes  even  that  he  may  obstruct  the  power  of  memory 
by  plunging  into  stupefaction.  Hence  it  is  that  all  writens 
upon  science,  and  especially  when  they  treat  of  its  applica- 
bility to  the  improvement  of  others,  lay  down  as  a  maxim, 
that  its  votary  should  be  virtuous,  if  he  would  be  successful. 
And  indeed  what  is  thus  said  of  science  is  true  of  every 
other  useful  occupation.  The  attainment  of  success  requires 


36        THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

that  the  unbroken  powers  of  the  soul  should  be  directed  to 
secure  it; — but  this  cannot  be  the  case  where  they  are 
prostrated  by  remorse  or  impaired  by  irregular  habits.  If 
is  true,  that  rare  instances  of  partial  success  are  occasionally 
found  as  exceptions  to  this  position.  They  are,  however,  not 
only  exceptions,  but  they  are,  in  general,  fearful  examples, 
which  show  us  how  some  mighty  mind,  gathering  the  shat- 
tered forces  which  it  still  retains,  may  in  one  splendid  effort 
achieve  its  object  by  its  own  destruction;  just  as  the  com- 
mander, who  has  prodigally  wasted  the  lives  of  many  of  his 
gallant  soldiers  by  his  indiscretion,  finding  himself  driven 
to  his  last  entrenchment,  determines  at  least  to  save  the  city 
which  he  covers,  and  marshalling  the  fragments  of  his  once 
powerful  host,  urges  them  by  word  and  by  example  to  one 
noble  act  of  devotion.  The  assault  is  desperate  and  the 
result  is  doubtful ;  until,  at  length,  the  protected  city  comes 
forth  to  weep  over  the  remains  of  those,  who,  victims  not 
only  to  valor,  but  to  wanton  waste,  perished  on  the  very 
field  where  they  annihilated  a  foe  which  they  could  at  an 
earlier  period  have  subdued  with  a  trifling  loss,  and  having 
saved  their  country  might  have  survived  to  receive  its 
gratitude  and  to  share  in  its  prosperity. 

I  need  not  enter  upon  any  elucidation  of  the  well-known 
fact  that  the  close  union  of  the  mind  and  body  induces  a 
palpable  injury  to  the  mental  powers  as  a  consequence 
of  the  derangement  of  the  bodily  functions.  Witness  the 
ravings  from  fever,  the  dejection  of  the  dyspeptic,  the  languor 
of  the  consumptive,  the  stupor  of  the  dissipated.  Nor  is  it 
requisite  that  I  should  even  advert  to  the  notorious  effects 
of  immorality  or  dissipation  upon  the  human  frame. 

To  me  it  has  always  appeared  a  great  mistake  to  imagine 
that  the  preservation  of  political  equality  required  the 
destruction  of  distinctions  in  society.  To  secure  the  first, 
which  is  of  primary  importance  in  our  republics,  I  conceive 
it  to  be  sufficient  that  each  individual  shall  be  upon*  an 
equality  with  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  eye  of  the  law ;  so 
that  the  rule  by  which  his  property,  his  peace,  and  his  rights 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        37 

are  preserved,  shall  be  the  same  which  preserves  them  for 
every  other ;  that  he  shall  be  liable  to  punishment  only  for 
'those  acts  that  are  punishable  in  another,  and  be  tried  and 
convicted  only  by  a  similar  process.  Moreover,  that  every 
citizen  shall  be  on  a  level  in  the  eye  of  the  constitution ; 
that  is,  that  each  has  only  the  same  burdens  to  bear,  the 
same  duties  to  perform,  and  has,  according  to  his  qualifica- 
tion, an  equal  claim  to  posts  of  honor  or  of  emolument 
as  any  other.  In  a  word,  that  no  one  shall  have  the 
prerogative,  that  no  class  shall  be  privileged.  This  in  my 
view  forms  the  extent  to  which  our  equality  should  go.  To 
attempt  forcing  it  beyoncj  these  limits  would  be  not  only 
ridiculous  and  impracticable,  but  the  effort  would  be  destruc- 
tive. Can  you  establish  an  equality  of  property?  Suppose 
you  were  able  to  effect  it  to-day,  how  long  will  it  continue? 
"Will  all  be  alike  industrious  ?  will  all  be  equally  intelligent  ? 
will  all  be  equally  successful?  Will  all  be  alike  parsimo- 
nious, or  lavish,  or  equally  burdened  with  families,  visited 
by  sickness,  swept  by  floods,  or  stricken  by  lightning?  You 
cannot  prevent  the  existence  of  classes  of  rich  and  poor  and 
of  comfortable.  Diversified  as  the  expressions  of  countenance 
is  the  variety  of  tastes.  Will  you  compel  them  to  an 
equality  in  this  regard?  Whilst  I  leave  others  to  a  perfect 
freedom  upon  this  score,  shall  I  not  have  a  just  claim  to 
my  own  freedom  also?  And  shall  not  they,  whose  taste  is 
the  same,  be  permitted  to  cultivate  it  without  being  intruded 
upon  by  others  who  would  mar  that  cultivation  ?  There 
are,  I  believe,  but  two  restraints  which  should  be  reasonably 
imposed  here  upon  individuals  or  associations,  viz.: — 1.  That 
this  gratification  of  taste  should  not  be  immoral,  and  2,  That 
it  should  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  others.  The  ground 
of  these  restraints  is  so  plain  that  I  shall  not  point  it  out. 
It  is  impossible  then,  that  there  should  not  exist  in  every 
community  various  classes  whose  taste  is  more  or  less  refined, 
"nor*  does  the  cultivation  of  refinement  in  our  habits  impair 
the  equality  of  our  civil  and  political  rights.  It  would  be 
indeed  a  cruel  tyranny  to  compel  an  individual  to  seek  for 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

his  enjoyment  only  in  that  which,  though  it  suits  the  taste 
of  another,  yet  is  altogether  in  opposition  to  his  own.  Still 
as  a  general  principle  it  is  expected  that  they,  who  move  in 
the  more  refined  and  better  informed  circles  of  society, 
should  conform  to  the  usages  of  their  associates  in  the  very 
character  of  their  relaxation,  for  the  similarity  of  their 
education  and  of  their  early  habits  supposes  a  general 
similarity  of  taste. 

Our  progress  through  life  is  comparatively  brief,  and  it 
is  our  duty,  not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  society,  to  be  useful 
whilst  we  are  able.  The  great  bulk  of  human  happiness 
and  of  human  prosperity  has  been  created  by  the  industry 
of  man.  Our  predecessors  have  thus  been  our  benefactors, 
and  the  fruits  of  their  ingenuity  and  exertions  have  been  to 
us  a  most  valuable  legacy.  It  is  not  long  since  the  "  red 
man"  occupied  the  lands  which  surround  us  —  and  what 
was  his  position?  He  inherited  the  regions  through  which 
he  roamed ;  but  because  he  had  little  of  that  stock  of 
improvement  which  the  "  pale  face "  possessed,  the  soil  was 
comparatively  useless  in  his  hands.  And  in  the  accumulation 
of  that  scries  of  ingenious  discoveries  which  produces  so 
much  benefit  for  us,  no  inconsiderable  portion  is  the  result 
of  well-directed  relaxation,  in  which  men  of  mighty  minds 
indulged  as  a  relief  from  graver  study.  With  some  the 
cultivation  of  music,  with  some  the  charms  of  poetry,  with 
some  the  studies  of  nature  in  her  more  choice  and  elegant 
productions,  whilst  others  improved  mechanism  and  aided  the 
useful  arts  even  for  their  amusement.  Nor  is  the  hour  of 
social  indulgence  and  good  companionship  always  useless. 
It  may  often  be  profitably  spent  in  that  way  which  Curran 
described,  in  his  apostrophe  to  Lord  Avonmore,  as  usual 
with  the  "Monks  of  the  Screw:" 

"  This  soothing  hope  I  draw  from  the  dearest  and 
tenderest  recollections  of  my  life  —  from  the  remembrance 
of  those  Attic  nights  and  those  refections  of  the  gods,  which 
we  have  spent  with  those  admired,  and  respected,  and 
beloved  companions  who  have  gone  before  us ;  over  whose 


THE   PLEASURES    OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  39 

ashes  the  most  precious  tears  of  Ireland  have  been  shed. 
Yes,  my  good  Lord,  I  see  you  do  not  forget  them.  I  see 
their  sacred  forms  passing  in  sad  review  before  your  memory. 
I  see  your  pained  and  softened  fancy  recalling  those  happy 
meetings,  Avhere  the  innocent  enjoyment  of  social  mirth 
became  expanded  into  the  nobler  warmth  of  social  virtue, 
and  the  horizon  of  the  board  became  enlarged  into  the 
horizon  of  man — where  the  swelling  heart  conceived  and 
communicated  the  generous  purpose ; — where  my  slenderer 
and  younger  taper  imbibed  its  borrowed  light  from  the  more 
matured  and  redundant  fountain  of  yours.  Yes,  my  Lord, 
we  can  remember  those  nights  without  any  other  regret  than 
that  they  can  never  more  return,  for 

'We  spent  them  not  in  toys,  or  lust,  or  wine, 

But  search  of    deep  philosophy, 

Wit,  eloquence  and  poesy, 
Arts  which  I  loved,  for  they,  my  friend,  were  thine.' " 

—  Cowley. 

Relaxation  is,  then,  necessary  for  man,  but  whilst  he 
indulges  in  it  to  a  proper  extent,  he  should  avoid  the  per- 
nicious, degrading,  and  ruinous  modes  which  too  often  present 
themselves  to  persons  of  every  age,  and  to  which  inexperi- 
enced, ardent,  and  innocent  youth  is  unfortunately  allured 
by  the  most  "wily  blandishments.  Our  recreations  should  be 
suited  to  the  place  we  occupy,  and  made  to  subserve  the 
improvement  of  ourselves,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the 
community. 

It  has  frequently  struck  me  that  one  of  the  secondary 
objects  of  a  good  collegiate  education  was  to  afford  to  men  of 
improved  minds  and  cultivated  taste  one  of  the  best  resources 
for  the  purposes  alluded  to ;  and  that  one  of  the  greatest 
mistakes  usually  made  by  our  educated  men  was,  casting 
aside  as  useless,  after  their  graduation,  the  books  to  whose 
study  they  had  been  kept  for  so  many  years.  It  is,  indeed, 
in  a  great  degree  natural,  that  having  theretofore  regarded 
them  as  instruments  of  task-work,  and  that  frequently  of  no 


40  THE   PLEASURES    OF   THE 


light  description,  the  mind,  now  rejoicing  in  its  emancipation, 
should  view  them  as  a  liberated  prisoner  would  the  manacles 
from  which  he  was  relieved.  This,  however,  is  not  a  correct 
estimate.  They  should  rather  be  considered  as  the  means 
by  whose  use  the  mind  has  become  greatly  enriched.  It 
was  necessary  in  a  large  measure  to  compel  the  youth  to 
industry  that  he  might  acquire  mental  wealth  ;  it  has  been 
collected,  and  is  treasured  up  ;  by  a  little  exertion,  he  not 
only  will  easily  preserve  what  has  been  put  together,  but 
will  greatly  add  to  its  value  ;  if,  however,  he  remain  listless 
and  idle,  even  what  he  has  already  acquired  will  rapidly 
dwindle  away. 

I  l*ave  known  men,  who,  during  protracted  lives,  found 
in  the  cultivation  of  classical  literature  that  relaxation  which 
improved  whilst  it  relieved  the  mind.  The  last  survivor 
of  those  who  pledged  their  lives  and  fortunes,  and  nobly 
redeemed  their  sacred  honor,  in  the  achievement  of  our 
glorious  inheritance  of  liberty,  was  a  striking  instance  of 
this.  "When  nearly  fourscore  years  had  passed  away  from 
the  period  of  his  closing  the  usual  course  of  classical  educa- 
tion, —  after  the  perils  of  a  revolution,  after  the  vicissitudes 
of  party  strife,  when  the  decay  of  his  faculties  warned  him 
of  the  near  approach  of  that  hour  when  he  should  render  an 
account  of  his  deeds  to  that  Judge  who  was  to  decide  his 
fate  for  eternity,  from  his  more  serious  occupations  of  prayer 
and  self-examination,  and  from  the  important  concern  of 
managing  and  dividing  his  property,  would  diaries  Carroll, 
of  Carrollton,  turn  for  refreshment  to  those  classic  authors 
with  whom  he  had  been  familiar  through  life  ;  —  his  soul 
would  still  feel  emotion  at  the  force  of  Tully's  eloquence 
or  melt  at  Virgil's  pastoral  strain. 

Perhaps,  the  very  selection  in  early  life  of  this,  as  the 
best  mode  of  mental  indulgence,  tended  much  to  insure  to 
him,  not  only  his  patriarchal  age,  but  the  calm  and  serene 
frame  of  mind  which  was  also  well  calculated  to  preserve 
health  and  to  promote  longevity.  When  the  young  man  is 
thus  occupied,  and  enjoys  the  literary  gratification,  he  is  less 


THE   PLEASURES    OF   THE   SCUULAL'.  41 

disposed  to  search  for  that  society  or  to  rush  into  those 
indulgences,  which,  whilst  they  destroy  the  powers  of  the 
mind,  undermine  the  vigor  of  the  constitution,  and  are  the 
prelude  to  years  of  remorse  and  to  a  life  of  difficulties. 
This  relaxation  is  unquestionably  very  rational,  perfectly 
dignified,  and  would,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  found  eminently 
useful  by  all  who  would  adopt  it. 

There  are  many  who  regard  classical  studies  merely  as  an 
exercise  to  become  acquainted  with  the  dead  languages  of 
Greece  and  Home,  so  that  we  may  be  able  to  read  the 
productions  of  their  authors,  and  thus  become  acquainted 
with  their  learning.  And  they  very  naturally  tell  us,  that,, 
being  possessed  of  good  translations,  whose  accuracy  is 
acknowledged,  we  can  with  more  facility  and  precision,  and 
in  an  incomparably  less  portion  of  time,  learn  all  that  they 
"could  teach. 

This  appears  plausible,  and  would  be  true  if  its  assump- 
tion were  a  fact.  But  such  is  not  the  case.  The  object  is 
not  to  learn  the  languages  merely  for  this  purpose.  In 
the  first  place,  the  object  is  to  form  the  mind  to  habits  of 
industry,  to  precision  and  accuracy  of  judgment,  as  well 
as  to  imbibe  principles  of  just  criticism  by  a  discipline 
eminently  fitted  to  this  end.  If  the  teacher,  as  in  too  many 
instances  is  unfortunately  the  case,  especially  in  young  com- 
munities, be  not  himself  capable  of  appreciating  the  value 
of  the  course,  or  of  usefully  conducting  a  pupil  through  it, 
the  fault  lies  in  the  incompetency  of  him  who  undertakes, 
not  in  the  inutility  of  that  which  is  undertaken.  In  learning 
properly  a  dead  language,  there  is  no  room  for  idleness 
without  detection,  because  every  word  should  be  accounted 
for,  its  derivation  traced  with  accuracy,  every  inflection 
ought  to  be  known,  and  its  precise  signification  should  be 
pointed  out ;  the  dependence  of  words  upon  each  other 
must  be  understood,  and  the  rules  of  that  dependence  ascer- 
tained and  applied.  This  is  the  indispensable  basis  of  sound 
classical  knowledge ;  and  I  ask,  whether  it  be  possible  to- 
have  the  youthful  mind  occupied  during  years  in  this- 


42        THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

process,  without  producing  habits  of  industry  and  research? 
When  this  knowledge  has  been  perfectly  acquired,  no  diffi- 
culty presents  itself  in  perusing  the  works  of  the  ancients, 
but  each  day  new  gratification  is  derived  from  the  discoveries 
that  are  constantly  made  in  the  very  structure  of  the  language 
itself;  words  are  separated  into  their  most  minute  portions, 
the  original  expressions  are  found  in  which  men  first  called 
objects  by  their  most  simple  appellations,  and  the  composition 
of  the  word  shows  the  combinations  found  in  some  new 
object,  and  this  detection  of  the  analogy  between  language 
and  its  objects  leads  to  a  most  improving  and  delightful 
process  of  philosophy. 

I  am  aware,  however,  that  comparatively  few  persons  are 
admitted  into  this  field  of  recreation,  because  few  persons 
labor  to  furnish  themselves  with  the  key  by  means  of  which 
they  can  enter;  for,  by  reason  of  either  their  own  or  theif 
teacher's  neglect,  they  have  not  acquired  that  accurate  notion 
of  the  original  language  that  would  relieve  them  from 
trouble  in  its  perusal,  or  would  enable  them  to  follow  up 
the  discoveries  to  which  I  allude;  and  therefore  the  book 
is  closed,  abandoned,  and  soon  forgotten. 

Figure  to  yourselves  a  young  man  whose  parents  compelled 
him,  through  long  years  of  tedious  and  often  painful  occupa- 
tion, to  reclaim  a  rich  piece  of  ground  and  to  cultivate  it 
with  care ;  see  it  now  given  to  him  as  a  possession,  not 
only  in  the  highest  state  of  culture,  but  with  an  exuberant 
and  inexhaustible  depth  of  soil,  with  hands  sufficient  for  its 
tillage  accustomed  to  the  performance  of  their  task;  what 
would  your  estimate  be  of  the  judgment  and  taste  of  this 
young  proprietor,  should  he  proclaim  to  his  servants  that 
they  need  not  labor,  should  he  take  no  concern  in  the 
management  of  his  land,  and  should  he  suffer  it  to  become 
waste  through  mere  negligence?  It  will  not  remain  unpro- 
ductive. Should  it  not  be  cultivated,  its  very  fertility  will 
hasten  its  progress  to  renewed  wildness ;  the  noisome  weed 
will  spring  up  luxuriantly,  the  tangled  underwood  will 
thicken,  and  the  rising  trees  will  interweave  their  roots 


TUB   PLEASURES    OF    THE   SCHOLAR.  43 

below  the  surface  more  quickly  than  their  arms  will  meet 
above.  Such  is  the  figure  of  the  human  mind,  such  the 
consequence  of  neglecting,  by  a  little  care,  to  cultivate  in 
your  .leisure  moments  that  classical  knowledge  which  you 
have  acquired. 

The  discipline,  by  which  you  have  been  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  this  ancient  language  fits  your  mind  for  the 
graver  studies  and  the  more  pressing  cares  of  your  manhood, 
as  it  was  itself  that  best  calculated  for  your  adolescence, 
because  your  curiosity  was  excited  and  gratified  by  the 
subjects  that  were  submitted  to  your  examination ;  and 
though  you  found  some  labor  in  ascending  towards  the 
temple  of  science,  yet  were  you  attracted  by  some  flower 
that  invited  you  forward,  and  were  amply  repaid  even  by 
the  expansion  of  the  horizon  and  the  riches  of  the  scenery 
that  were  spreading  before  you  as  you  arose.  Having  once 
overcome  the  difficulties  of  the  ascent,  if  you  preserve  your 
position,  the  labor  has  terminated,  and  the  enjoyment  is 
within  your  control.  Thus,  what  was  originally  an  arduous 
task  becomes,  by  perseverance  in  its  use,  a  pleasing 
recreation. 

The  proper  study  of  the  classics  requires  extensive  acquaint- 
ance with  ancient  history.  The  writers,  whose  works  are 
placed  in  the  pupil's  hand,  were  men  of  information, 
accurately  instructed,  not  only  in  the  history  of  their  own 
times,  but  of  those  which  preceded  them.  They  often  treat 
specially  of  the  important  events  of  those  remote  days,  or 
they  make  direct  allusions  to  them,  to  understand  whose  force 
we  must  become  exactly  informed  of  the  facts  themselves ; 
and  thus  the  classical  student  is  drawn  insensibly  to  acquire 
a  vast  fund  of  information  in  this  department,  in  a  mode 
which  stores  the  mind  by  a  far  more  pleasing  process  than 
that  of  sitting  down  professedly  to  pore  over  the  dry  recital 
of  some  ancient  chronicler  of  events.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  JEneid  of  Virgil  and  contemplate  the  vast  accumulation 
of  historical  details  to  which  it  refers.  It  is  true  that  the 
student  must  labor  sedulously  at  first,  and  must  consult  many 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

a  dictionary  and  many  a  map ;  he  must  become  acquainted 
with  the  early  settlements  of  the  little  States  that  covered 
Asia  Minor,  that  filled  the  Archipelago  and  the  continent  of 
Greece ;  he  must  learn  the  origin  and  the  progress  of  Latium, 
the  Tyrian  migrations  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  Lnd  much  more 
that  you  will  easily  recollect.  But  in  the  midst  of  this 
research,  he  is  allured  to  persevere  by  the  sweet  warbling 
of  the  poet  whose  full  meaning  he  desires  to  comprehend. 
It  is  thus  that  the  years,  which  are  said  to  be  lost  in  the 
mere  acquisition  of  an  useless  tongue,  are  employed  in  laying 
up  treasures  that  may  prove  so  valuable  in  after  life.  And 
it  is  thus  that  the  mind,  after  having  acquired  this  knowl- 
edge, can,  without  exertion,  recall  and  preserve  it  as  it 
relaxes  from  its  laborious  occupations,  to  enjoy  the  harmony 
of  the  Mantuan  bard ;  just  as  when,  with  extraordinary 
labor,  great  research,  and  no  inconsiderable  expenditure,  a 
fine  cabinet  of  science  has  been  collected  from  the  several 
regions  of  the  globe  and  the  various  kingdoms  of  knowledge, 
the  exertions  and  the  study  for  its  arrangement  are  fatiguing, 
but  it  subsequently  is  the  source  for  enriching  the  mind 
with  intellectual  wealth,  easily  acquired,  the  occasion  of 
refreshing,  for  the  memory,  that  which  would  have  faded 
away,  and  an  agreeable  and  entertaining  retreat  in  the  hour 
of  necessary  relaxation. 

Persuaded  that  a  principal  obstacle  to  making  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  classics  subserve  the  great  object  of  polished 
recreation,  is  to  be  found  in  the  imperfection  of  the  reading, 
I  shall  illustrate,  by  a  passage  from  one  of  the  great  masters 
of  criticism  the  position  I  have  taken  respecting  the  necessity 
of  deep  study  in  our  early  life,  to  render  those  books  delight- 
ful in  after  days : 

"You,  then,  whose  judgment  the  right  course  would  steer, 
Know  well  each  ancient's  proper  character; 
His  fable,  subject,  scope  in  every  page  ; 
Religion,  country,  genius  of  his  age  ; 
Without  all  these  at  once  before  your  eyes, 
Cavil  you  may,  but  never  criticise." 

—Pope. 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        45 

You  will  then  perceive,  that,  not  only  mere  history,  such 
as  I  have  alluded  to,  is  required  to  be  well  known  as  a 
preliminary  to  understanding  those  authors,  but  history  of 
another  description,  and  respecting  which  there  is  much 
less  accurate  information,  even  amongst  men  of  literary  repu- 
tation, than  is  generally  suspected.  The  mythology  or  his- 
tory of  their  ancient  religious  systems  is  far  more  necessary 
to  be  known  by  him  who  would  become  acquainted  with 
the  writers  of  those  early  times,  than  is  a  knowledge  of 
the  Christian  religion  for  the  person  who  would  know  the 
scope  and  meaning  of  the  philosophical  or  scientific  writers 
of  our  own  age  and  nation ;  because  their  religion  entered 
more  extensively  into  the  writings  of  all  classes  amongst 
them,  than  does  ours  into  the  compositions  of  our  mere 
secular  authors.  Perhaps  I  shall  be  thought  at  least  rash 
for  the  assertion  that  this  field  is  very  little  examined  into, 
but  I  could  easily  sustain  my  position,  first,  because  the 
value  of  mythology  is  greatly  underrated ;  next,  because, 
when  a  mere  vague  general  notion  of  its  nature  is  formed, 
it  is  thought  to  be  sufficiently  known;  and  thirdly,  because 
many  persons,  through  an  affectation  of  contempt  for  its 
puerility  and  folly,  regard  its  study  as  at  least  a  great  waste 
of  time.  I  shall  only  say  that  some  of  the  finest  passages 
of  the  poets  and  philosophers  are  scarcely  intelligible  to  those 
who  do  not  trace  mythological  history,  from  the  first  aber- 
rations of  the  human  mind  in  the  ancient  nations,  through 
all  their  varied  forms  of  worshiping  the  host  of  heaven 
instead  of  its  Creator ;  of  paying  the  highest  homage  to 
genii,  to  angels,  and  to  demons,  whilst  they  denied  it  to 
the  God  who  made  them ;  of  beholding  the  universal  soul 
spread  through  the  whole  visible  world  and  manifesting  itself 
in  the  fire  of  Persia ;  in  the  waters  of  Egypt,  entering  into 
its  oxen  and  its  leeks ;  found  in  the  rude  stone  of  the 
Scythian  equally  as  in  the  Bactrian  torrent,  the  Druid's 
oak,  or  the  African  sun.  Nor  is  it  for  the  classics  alone 
this  research  is  necessary ;  its  results  elucidate  the  pages 
of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  the  reveries  of  Manes  and  the 


46        THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

imaginings  of  Plato  must  be  known  in  order  to  compre- 
hend the  inspired  passages  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  John.  But 
I  touch  upon  a  topic  from  which  I  have  determined  to 
abstain.  It  will  suffice  for  me  to  say  tfhat  an  extensive 
an.d  precise  acquaintance  with  mythology  is  required  for  a 
classical  scholar,  and  that,  to  obtain  it,  he  must  go  over 
a  multitude  of  facts.  By  means  of  the  knowledge  thus 
obtained,  he  will  find  little  difficulty  in  understanding  cus- 
toms that  would  be  otherwise  inexplicable  or  obscure.  The 
histories  of  Saturn,  of  Jupiter,  and  of  the  other  deities,  as 
they  are  styled,  are  of  a  later  date,  and  their  character 
brings  them  nearer  to  the  period  of  a  more  degenerate 
worship.  To  obtain  this  mythological  knowledge  requires 
that  the  student  should  traverse  all  the  known  regions  of 
the  ancient  world,  that  his  search  should  be  continued 
through  many  centuries,  that  he  should  be.  the  associate  of 
the  philosopher,  the  companion  of  the  monarch,  the  observer 
of  the  priest ;  that  he  should  go  into  the  camp  with  the 
soldier,  be  seated  in  the  hall  of  legislation,  mingle  with 
the  shepherds  as  they  tend  their  flocks  or  rehearse  their 
lays.  He  must  go  down  with  the  mariner  upon  the  deep, 
observe  the  courses  of  the  stars,  learn  their  influences,  not 
only  upon  the  regions  of  Eolus,  but  upon  the  destinies  of 
men.  With  the  augur  he  must  study  the  habits  of  the 
birds,  by  the  soothsayer  he  will  be  taught  the  arrange- 
ment and  the  anatomy  of  beasts,  and  in  company  with  the 
Pythoness  he  must  be  filled  with  the  inspirations  of  heaven. 
Think  you  that,  if  the  study  of  man  be  useful,  this  is  a 
criminal  waste  of  time? 

There  is,  in  the  palace  of  the  Vatican  at  Rome,  a  long 
corridor,  well  known  to  the  visitors  of  that  magnificent 
depository  of  arts  and  of  literature.  As  you  enter,  upon 
your  right  hand,  the  wall  is  lined  from  the  floor  to  the 
ceiling  with  fragments  of  marble,  containing  the  rude  and 
the  improved  inscriptions  of  Italy,  in  the  days  of  heathen- 
ism. An  immense  vista  opens  before  you,  and  to  its 
extremity  this  monumental  partition  continues ;  the  images 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        47 

of  gods,  the  fragments  of  idols,  the  busts  of  heroes,  the 
figures  of  philosophers,  the  statues  of  emperors,  sarcophagi, 
and  pedestals  range  along  its  base ;  and  the  learned,  the 
curious,  the  powerful,  and  the  beautiful,  the  unbeliever  and 
the  pious,  the  gay  and  the  grave,  the  libertine  and  the 
pilgrim,  the  British  peer,  the  Spanish  grandee,  the  Ameri- 
can citizen,  the  Oriental  sage,  and  the  Italian  peasant,  in 
all  the  varied  costumes  of  rank,  of  nation,  of  taste,  and 
of  caprice,  move  along  the  hall,  reading  the  history  of 
other  days,  and  admiring  the  works  of  artists  who,  for 
multiplied  centuries,  have  been  insensible  to  censure  or  to 
praise.  There  you  may  detect  their  living  forms,  gliding 
between  stern  warriors  frowning  in  marble,  amidst  petrified 
consuls  and  gladiators,  blended  with  matrons,  nymphs,  and 
satyrs.  One  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church  has  appropriately 
remarked  that  any  one  possessing  eyes  may  look  upon  the 
characters  of  an  illuminated  volume,  and  admire  the  rich- 
ness of  the  tints,  the  beauty  of  the  letters,  the  decorations 
of  the  vellum ;  but,  had  he  been  taught  to  read,  how  much 
more  information  would  he  gather  from  the  document  itself! 
how  much  more  valuable  would  it  be  in  his  estimation ! 
So,  to  the  scholar,  how  rich  is  the  mine  of  knowledge 
which  that  corridor  contains !  and  are  not  his  authors  and 
his  recollections  like  that  corridor,  to  him  who  has  become 
familiar  with  their  contents  ? 

On  your  left,  as  you  enter,  monuments  of  another  lan- 
guage are  presented  to  your  view.  The  walls  are  covered, 
but  the  devices  are  not  the  same ;  the  emblems  are  occa- 
sionally varied.  One  monogram,  however,  in  those  of  the 
earliest  epoch,  seems  to  pervade;  the  fish  is  sculptured 
upon  the  greater  number ;  the  dove  with  the  .small  sprig 
of  olive  in  its  bill  is  there ;  a  palm-branch,  tinted  with 
red,  distinguishes  not  a  few ;  an  ark,  borne  upon  the  waters, 
surmounted  by  an  arch,  is  discernible  amongst  them ;  the 
word  PAX  is  nearly  universal.  The  archaeologist  recognizes 
the  symbolic  language  of  early  Christendom;  and  the  busts 
and  statues  of  some  of  her  heroes,  and  the  ornaments  of 


48        THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

the  Galilean  religion,  mingled  with  many  a  relic  of  those 
olden  days,  arranged  under  the  significant  and  instructive 
emblem  of  the  oriflam,  exhibit  the  contest  and  the  suffer- 
ing and  the  triumph  of  Christianity!  In  studies  like  this, 
the  understanding  is  informed,  the  memory  is  strengthened, 
and  the  mind  is  relieved.  In  the  midst  of  our  struggles 
through  this  changing  life,  it  is  well  to  have,  in  those 
moments  of  care,  of  oppression,  and  of  dejection,  some 
classic  scenery  which  will  be  to  us  as  a  city  of  refuge, 
until  we  shall  be  able  to  recruit.  The  effect  will  be  like 
that  described  by  the  favorite  bard  of  Ireland : 

"Let  fate  do  her  worst,  there  are  relic*   of  joy, 
Bright  dreams  of  the  past,  which  she  cannot  destroy, 
Which  come  in  the  night-time  of  sorrow  and  care, 
And  bring  back  the  features  that  joy  used  to  wear. 
Long,  long  be  my  heart  with  such  memories  filled, 
Like  the  vase  in  which  roses  have  once  been  distilled — 
You  may  break,  you  may  ruin  the  vase  if  you  will, 
But  the   scent  of  the  roses  will  hang  round  it  still." 

— Moore. 

The  knowledge  of  geography,  it  is  clear,  is  required 
equally  as  is  that  of  history,  and  it  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand the  ancient  authors  without  having  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  lands  and  the  waters  of  which  they 
treat ;  hence,  no  person  has  ever  been  regarded  as  worthy 
of  the  appellation  of  a  scholar,  who  could  not  at  each  epoch 
describe  the  political  divisions  of  the  earth.  Do  we  allude 
to  dialects  in  Greece?  It  will  be  as  necessary  for  us  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  vicinity  of  the  State  in  which  the  dialect 
was  used,  as  with  the  locality  of  the  State  itself.  AVc  may 
illustrate  this  by  viewing  the  continent  of  Europe  to-day. 
The  traveller  in  Switzerland,  for  instance,  will  find  in 
Geneva  and  the  Jura  the  language  to  be  generally  French, 
because  of  their  vicinity  to  France.  Let  him.  pass  through 
the  Valais,  he  finds  Italian  idioms  and  pronunciation  becoming 
more  prevalent  as  lie  goes  to  the  southeast,  and  upon  the 
Siniplon  he  will  almost  fancy  "himself  already  in  Italy. 


THE  PLEASURES    OF   THE  SCHOLAR.  49 

Proceeding,  however,  from  Berne  towards  Zurich,  the  German 
is  blended  with  the  French ;  and  when  lie  arrives  at  St. 
Gall,  or  upon  the  borders  of  the  lake  of  Constance,  his 
French  is  next  to  useless,  and  before  he  crosses  the  Rhine, 
iio  is  a  bewildered  stranger,  unless  he  can  use  German 
expressions. 

The  language  which  is  spoken  becomes,  in  some  measure, 
that  which  is  written,  where  the  body  of  the  people  can 
write ;  and,  amongst  ourselves,  I  expect  it  would  not  be  hard 
to  calculate  the  land  whence  came  the  man  who  tells  us  that 
he  has  notions  for  sale ;  and  I  reckon  we  should  speedily  tell 
the  abode  of  a  traveller  who  would  ask  the  conductor  of  a 
railroad  car  to  be  careful  of  his  plunder!  Customs  vary 
with  geographical  limits,  and  we  should  be  amused  at  the 
ignorance  of  him  who  would  clothe  the  Scythian  in  the 
Persian's  flowing  stole,  or  invest  the  Ethiopian  with  the 
toga,  with  equal  justice  as  we  would  at  the  folly  of  him  who 
would  declare  it  absolutely  necessary  to  procure  a  powdered 
wig  and  ermine  robes  from  Westminster  Hall,  to  enable  a 
Georgia  judge  to  open  his  commission.  The  Romans  knew 
as  little  of  passing  their  children  through  the  fire  of*  Baal, 
as  the  Scandinavian  did  of  the  worship  of  Astarte. 

Gather  to-day  the  remains  which  may  yet  be  found  on  the 
sites  of  the  Volscian  cities,  take  those  of  a  more  remote 
region  of  Etruria,  and  place  them  by  the  side  of  the  vast 
collections  that  the  Grsecea  Magna  of  ancient  days  has 
yielded,  together  with  the  excavations  of  Pompeii  and  of 
Herculaneum,  to  the  splendid  collections  of  Naples;  from 
them  you  will  learn  the  diversity  of  epochs,  of  customs,  and 
of  arts,  and  you  will  perceive  the  influence  of  geographical 
distinctions,  as  well  as  of  distant  times.  I  have  seen  the 
outlines  of  figures  drawn  with  anatomical  accuracy  in  frescoes 
that  have,  during  more  than  three  thousand  years,  preserved 
their  original  tints  in  an  unimpaired  brilliancy.  I  have  seen 
the  vases  of  a  later  period  in  another  region,  and  I  have 
seen  the  productions  of  the  mighty  masters  who  two  thousand 
years  ago  filled  Southern  Italy  with  works  of  various  art, 

4 


50        THE  PLEASURES  OF  TUB  SCHOLAR. 

that  have  exceeded  those  of  the  most  glorious  days  of 
Eastern  Greece.  The  phraseology  of  the  several  writers 
who  described  those  ages  and  their  customs  came  vividly  to 
my  recollection,  as  I  contemplated  the  "  breathing  brass," 
or  as  I  saw  the  evidences  of  the  custom;  and  I  felt  how 
groundless  is  the  notion  which  some  persons  would  inculcate, 
that  classical  studies  are  but  the  learning  of  a  dead  language ! 
They  demand  close  and  unremitting  attention  to  the  geog- 
raphy of  ancient  times,  tracing  the  origin  and  the  migrations 
of  colonies,  their  settlements,  their  neighbors,  their  border 
quarrels,  their  tactics,  their  success  or  their  extinction,  their 
government,  their  customs,  their  language  and  its  modifica- 
tions. This  is  a  portion  of  what  we  designate  as  classical 
knowledge : 

"  Patient  CAKE  by  just  degrees 

"Word  and  image  learns  to  class; 
Those  confounds  and  separates  these 

As  in  strict  review,  they  pass ; 
Joins  as  various  features  strike, 
Fit  to  fit  and  like  to  like, 
Till  in  meek  array  advance 
Concord,  Method,  Elegance." 

He  who,  without  such  information,  would  presume  to 
claim  the  high  and  honorable  title  of  a  classical  scholar, 
may  be  well  placed  in  the  same  category  as  the  writer  who 
should  locate  the  falls  of  Niagara  upon  the  Ocmulgee,  or 
the  one  who  would  assure  us  that,  after  escaping  many  perils 
in  descending  the  Chattahoochie,  his  mind  resumed  its  calm 
as  he  found  himself  quietly  gliding  from  its  turbid  stream 
into  the  deep  and  broad  waters  of  Delaware  Bay,  with  the 
Chesapeake  expanding  in  the  distance,  and  Bunker's  Hill 
and  the  other  Alleghanies  proudly  rising  within  his  view  to 
the  clouds. 

There  is  no  power  of  the  mind  which  stands  in  greater 
need  of  judicious  restraint,  and  yet  which  requires  more 
freedom,  than  does  the  imagination.  Horace  finely  shows 
its  dangers  and  its  imperfections  in  the  opening  of  his  essay 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        51 

on    the   art   of    poetry,   and   lie    soon   afterwards    exhibits    the 
principle  of  restraint. 

"  But  not  through  nature's  sacred  rules  to  break, 
Monstrous  to  mix  the  cruel  and  the  kind, 
Serpents  with  birds,  and  lambs  with  tigers  joined.'' 

Its  duty  is  to  embody,  before  the  mind's  eye,  some  sen- 
sible representation  which  shall,  when  expressed,  better  arrest 
the  attention  of  the  hearer  and  communicate  information, 
than  will  any  abstract  description.  Our  nature  is  not  merely 
spiritual ;  the  chief  part  of  our  knowledge  is  received 
through  our  senses ;  we  live  and  we  more  in  a  world  of 
sense,  amongst  objects  of  sense,  and  though  we  may  often 
indulge  in  metaphysical  abstraction,  and  may  reason  upon 
essences  and  generalizations,  yet  we  are  more  vividly  and 
powerfully  and  permanently  affected  by  the  objects  of  sense ; 
and  thus  the  soul  forms  for  itself,  as  it  were,  sensible 
representations  or  images  of  even  what  in  truth  are  spiritual 
beings  not  to  be  apprehended  by  our  senses,  or  of  an  abstrac- 
tion which  has  no  real  existence  out  of  those  subjects  in 
which  it  is  found  as  a  quality.  Thus,  though  angels  have 
no  bodies,  we  imagine  them  existing  in  bodily  shape. 
Strength  is  not  a  being,  neither  is  prudence,  nor  valor,  nor 
piety,  nor  strife,  nor  revenge.  The  imagination  must,  as  it 
were,  give  to  them  existence  in  some  scenery  which  rep- 
resents what  it  is  sought  to  describe ;  the  picture  must  not 
only  show  each  figure  perfect  in  itself,  but  the  entire  must 
be  harmoniously  grouped  to  give  a  pleasing  effect.  Akenside 
finely  displays  the  object — 

"Know  then,  whate'er  of  Nature's  pregnant  stores, 
Whate'er  of  mimic  art's  reflected  forms, 
With  love  and  admiration  thus  inflame 
The  powers  of   fancy,  her  delighted  sons 
To  three  illustrious  orders  have  referr'd — 
Three  sister  graces,  whom  the  painter's  hand, 
The  poet's  tongue  confesses ;    the  sublime, 
The  wonderful,  the  fair.    I  see  them  dawn  I 
I  see  the  radiant  visions,  where  they  rise, 
More  lovely  than  when  Lucifer  displays 
His  beaming  forehead  through  the  gates  of  morn, 
To  lead  the   train  of   Phoebus,  and  the  spring." 


52        THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

Nothing  is  more  generally  admitted  than  the  impossibility 
of  giving  a  precise  and  graphical  description  of  what  is 
not  plainly  seen  and  accurately  comprehended.  There  is  in 
many  minds,  and  perhaps  more  generally  discoverable  in 
our  Southern  regions,  as  great  an  impatience  of  that  delay 
and  labor  necessary  to  arrange  this  exhibition,  as  there  is 
extensive  poAver  to  call  up  the  figures  and  to  cast  the 
scenes.  And  nothing  is  better  calculated  to  remedy  this 
very  serious  evil  than  habitual  and  intimate  intercourse  with 
the  classical  authors.  Insensibly,  the  results  of  the  rule 
they  followed  become  so  impressed  upon  our  minds  as  to 
cause  almost  an  identification  thereof  with  our  habits  of 
thought,  and  a  taste  is  cultivated  which  will  instinctively 
detect  any  aberration  from  the  great  principle  which  was 
their  guide. 

"Hear  how  leaned  Greece  her  useful  rules  indites, 
When  to  repress,  and  when  to  indulge  our  flights. 
High  on  Parnassus'  top  her  sons  she  showed 
And  pointed  out  these  arduous  paths  they  trod. 
Held  from  afar,  aloft,  the  immortal  prize,, 
And  urged  the  rest  by  equal  steps  to  ri.-e. 
Just  precepts  thus  from  great  examples  giv'n 
She  drew  from  them,  what  they  derived  from  heav'n." 

— Pope. 

This  creative  power  of  the  mind  is  not  only  regulated 
by  the  use  of  their  precepts  and  the  imitation  of  their 
example, — it  is  wonderfully  enriched  by  the  vast  treasures 
of  materials  which  they  have  accumulated.  These  are  inex- 
haustible for  their  extent,  and  wonderful  in  their  variety; 
though  so  immense,  yet  you  carry  them  without  inconve- 
nience, and  no  robber  can  despoil  you  nor  speculator  strip 
you.  Your  own  sloth  is  the  only  plunderer  who  can,  on 
this  side  of  the  grave,  deprive  you  of  the  valuable  posses- 
sion. You  are  also  taught,  how,  from  a  poor  and  seem- 
ingly barren  field,  you  may,  by  industrious  cultivation,  raise 
an  abundant  harvest.  Go  to  the  sands,  the  groves,  the 
pools,  and  the  sulphureous  little  mounds  of  Cumae.  How 


T11E   PLEASURES    OF   THE  SCHOLAR.  53 

uninteresting,  how  valueless  do  they  appear !  Open  the 
pamphlet  of  the  Canon  Jorio,  and  read  the  sixth  book  of 
the  Eneid,  as  you  examine  its  contracted  limits,  and  how 
is  the  scenery  changed!  The  Hell,  the  Purgatory,  and  the 
Heaven  of  Virgil  are  around  you,  Lethe  is  at  your  feet, 
Phlegethon  is  before  you,  you  find  the  bark  of  Charon  on 
the  Styx,  the  rude  threatenings  of  Cerebus  are  echoed 
around ;  the  gloomy  Avernus  is  behind  yon,  and  accom- 
panied by  the  Sybil,  the  shades  of  the  mighty  dead  pass 
in  review  before  you.  The  wand  of  imagination  has  brought 
the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  the  generations  of  multiplied 
ages,  within  the  narrow  compass  of  a  short  excursion,  and 
has  spread  over  this  barren  spot  the  panoramic  view  of 
the  years  that  have  passed  away,  and  of  the  immortality 
that  succeeds  them.  Yet  how  far  short  is  this  of  the 
power  that  imagination  possesses  ? 

Another  serious  advantage,  derivable  from  continuing  this 
familiarity  with  the  ancient  authors,  is,  that  it  affords  us 
ample  scope  for  the  study  of  the  human  mind,  exhibiting 
its  epochs  of  acquisition  in  science,  its  improvement  in  the 
arts,  the  true  field  for  its  labors,  and  the  mode  in  which 
we  may  be  more  likely  to  insure  success.  We  may  thence 
learn  the  fallacy  of  those  theories  which  have,  under  the 
garb  of  philosophy  and  science,  at  various  times,  betrayed 
great  minds  into  egregious  folly. 

Thus,  we  perceive  immediately  that  the  art  of  writing 
and  the  discovery  of  letters  bear  us  back  to  no  very  remote 
period  from  the  origin  of  our  Christian  epoch,  and  sustain 
our  religion's  history.  And  though  some  nations  had  made 
progress  in  legislation,  in  arts,  and  in  arms,  though  agri- 
culture was  greatly  improved,  and  commerce  extending  its 
dominion,  though  several  mighty  monuments  were  raised  at 
early  periods,  still  the  first  efforts  at  writing  were  exceed- 
ingly rude,  and  their  application  was  very  limited.  We 
tracs  the  progress  of  science  from  one  period  to  another, 
but  beginning  with  what  was  most  in  demand  for  the 
necessities,  then  the  comforts,  and  subsequently  for  the  luxu- 


54         THE  PLEASURES  UF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

ries  of  man.  Yvre  find  our  forefathers  under  the  influence 
of  the  same  passions  and  subject  to  the  same  infirmities 
as  we  are,  and  equally  the  slaves  of  prejudice  and  of  pride 
as  we  are,  having  the  same  appetites  and  taking  the  like 
means  for  their  gratification.  If  we  come  down  to  more 
recent  epochs  we  perceive  that  though,  in  the  contest  with 
the  barbarian,  much  of  the  more  polished  literature  and 
t'.ie  finer  arts  were  for  a  time  overwhelmed,  still  they 
were  not  altogether  lost,  and  that  the  restoration  gives  a 
very  different  appearance  from  what  took  place  at  the 
invention. 

Whilst  we  behold  the  ancient  nations  exceeding  us  in 
many  instances  in  works  of  architecture,  in  persevering 
industry,  in  the  amassing  of  wealth,  in  the  productions  of 
their  soil,  in  military  prowess,  in  force  of  eloquence  and 
the  sweets  of  poetry,  in  one  respect  they  are  confessedly  infi- 
nitely below  us, — that  is,  in  their  notions  of  God  and  of 
religion,  and  in  their  maxims  of  morals.  They  sought  to 
acquire  in  the  schools  of  philosophy  what  we  say  must  be 
derived  from  Heaven, — and  as  the  contrast  in  the  results  is 
as  obvious  as  is  the  contrast  between  the  principles,  it 
should  seem  easy  to  decide  upon  a  choice  as  to  which 
should  be  adopted.  Nothing  will  tend  better  to  confirm 
what  I  here  allude  to  than  a  calm  examination  of  what 
their  best  authors  testify  regarding  their  opinions  and  their 
practice. 

I  have  said  that  we  are  equally  weak  as  they  were,  as 
regards  our  pride  and  self-importance.  I  shall  endeavor  to 
illustrate  and  prove  the  general  truth  of  my  observation. 
It  is  related  of  an  Asiatic  prince  of  more  modern  times, 
to  whom  an  ambassador  was  sent  from  Holland,  that  he 
frequently  was  pleased  at  hearing  from  the  envoy  the 
extraordinary  accounts  of  the  customs  and  institutions  of 
Europe.  On  one  occasion,  speaking  of  the  intensity  of  cold, 
of  which  the  monarch  had  very  imperfect  notions,  the  am- 
bassador told  him,  that  in  Holland  it  sometimes  produced 
such  an  effect  on  water  that  its  surface  became  solid,  and 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        55 

that  men  walked  on  it  in  safety  and  transported  heavy 
burdens  upon  it  as  they  would  on  land.  The  prince  imme- 
diately ordered  him  to  quit  his  dominions  for  having  the 
effrontery  of  endeavoring  to  make  him  despicable  by  induc- 
ing him  to  believe  in  the  truth  of  what  was  naturally 
impossible,  because  the  experience  of  every  one  contra- 
dicted the  notion  that  any  increase  of  cold  could  render 
solid  that  which  was  always  known  to  be  liquid.  It  was 
opposed  to  the  law  of  nature. 

Strange  as  we  may  deem  this  decision  of  the  Eastern,  I 
believe  you  will  find  it  equalled  by  that  of  Herodotus,  who, 
remarking  upon  the  statement  that  certain  Egyptians  had 
circumnavigated  Africa  at  an  early  period,  by  sailing  down 
the  Ked  Sea  and  after  a  long  lapse  of  time  returning  by 
the  pillars  of  Hercules,  places  his  greatest  difficulty  of  receiv- 
ing their  testimony  upon  the  ground  of  their  asserting  that 
when  at  the  greatest  distance  they  had  gone  towards  the 
south,  the  sun  was  at  noon  upon  their  right  hand  as  they 
sailed  towards  the  west.  This,  he  says,  everybody  knows 
is  impossible,  it  is  against  the  laws  of  nature,  because  it 
is  against  the  experience  of  every  one  that  to  a  person 
going  west  the  sun  should  at  noon  be  to  the  right  hand 
side  of  his  position.  I  believe  the  law  of  nature  now  to 
be  the  same  as  it  was  then,  and  a  navigator  at  this  day 
sailing  westwards  below  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  would 
consider  it  a  very  strange  phenomenon  to  have  the  sun  in 
any  other  position  than  on  his  right  hand  at  noon ;  for 
he  would  be  south  of  the  tropic  of  Capricorn,  and  must 
necessarily  have  the  sun  to  the  north. 

I  have  adduced  this  instance  to  show  not  only  that  the 
scholar  can  advantageously  study  the  history  of  mind  and 
the  progress  of  discovery  in  the  ancient  authors,  but  that 
their  perusal  will  show  him  how  liable  the  greatest  minds 
are  to  sad  mistakes,  when,  by  reason  of  their  attachment 
to  preconceived  notions  of  their  own  speculations,  they  reject 
the  evidence  of  testimony.  It  was  thus  that  Hume,  and 
others  of  his  school,  would  set  up  their  speculative  notion 


oG  THE   PLEASURES    OF   THE 

that  "  our  own  experience  is  the  only  test  of  reasonable 
belief,"  and  thus,  like  Herodotus,  they  would,  because  of 
its  novelty,  make  that,  which  was  the  surest  evidence  of 
the  truth  of  a  relation,  the  very  ground  of  its  rejection. 
This  school  of  philosophers  is,  however,  fast  sinking  to  its 
proper  place  in  public  estimation,  and  men  are  more  rational 
in  distrusting  their  self-sufficiency,  and  in  relinquishing  their 
prejudices,  as  they  behold '  the  follies  to  which  both  the 
one  and  the  other  have  led  men  of  undoubted  ability  and 
extensive  information.  .  .  t 

I  am  convinced  that  to  such  an  audience  as  I  have  the 
honor  of  addressing,  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  urge  the 
vast  fund  of  general  information  upon  such  a  variety  of 
subjects  as  will  be  found  in  the  books  to  whose  perusal 
I  have  been  endeavoring  to  induce  those  who  would  im- 
prove their  understanding,  cultivate  their  taste,  or  seek  a 
reasonable  recreation  in  classical  pursuits.  In  reading  them, 
they  converse  with  the  most  polished,  the  most  learned, 
the  most  experienced  of  the  poets,  philosophers,  historians, 
orators,  and  statesmen,  that  the  civilized  world  has  pro- 
duced during  several  centuries. 

Amongst  them  are  the  mighty  men  who  have  by  their 
powers  of  oratory  swayed  nations  as  they  would  men ;  who, 
to  effect  this  mighty  purpose,  subjected  themselves  to  all 
the  discipline  and  labor  which  so  great  a  work  demands. 
Theirs  was  not  the  rude  volubility  which,  let  off  from  a 
stump,  produces  a  transitory  effect  upon  the  multitude.  No ! 
it  was  the  well-weighed  expression  of  solid  truth,  sent  forth 
to  establish  correct  principles,  and  to  \vin  to  them  the  sup- 
port of  the  mighty  and  of  the  weak,  of  the  wealthy  and 
of  the  poor,  of  the  sage  and  of  the  simpleton.  The  object 
was  £o  lay  the  foundations  of  their  country's  prosperity  in 
their  country's  affections,  and  by  convincing  the  under- 
standings of  their  fellow-men,  to  win  their  support  to 
measures  of  public  utility.  Their  productions  have  outlived 
not  only  monuments  of  marble  or  of  brass,  but  they  survive 
the  wreck  of  those  governments  under  which  they  lived,  and 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        57 

of  others  that  have  succeeded  them.  They  are  studied  to-day 
as  the  best  models  for  imitation.  You  perceive  they  are 
free  from  those  defects  which  cause  so  many  others  to  sink 
into  oblivion.  They  have  no  vulgar  personality,  they  are 
not  pompous  exhibitions  of  the  declaimer  for  the  purpose 
of  winning  an  ephemeral  applause  under  the  pretext  of 
public  instruction.  No,  they  are  clear  and  forcible  appeals 
to  the  understanding  of  their  auditors,  of  whose  respect  they 
were  certain  because  they  proved  their  deference  for  the 
judgments  of  their  assemblies,  by  treating  them  as  men  of 
understanding. 

Having  convinced  by  their  reasoning,  they  delighted  by  a 
chaste  decoration.  This  was  investing,  with  its  more  soft 
and  beautiful  covering,  the  solid  frame  that  had  been  pro- 
duced, amplified  sufficiently  to  develop  the  just  proportions ; 
there  was  no  redundance  to  weaken,  no  excrescence  to 
deform.  Feeling  strongly  and  warmly  themselves,  they 
breathed  life  and  vigor  into  what  would  otherwise  be  a  form 
inert  though  beautiful.  Dignified  and  winning  in  their 
manner,  their  productions  addressed  themselves  to  the  hearts 
of  their  hearers,  allured  them  to  obedience,  and  commanded 
them  to  action. 

Amongst  those  who  surround  me,  are  several  who  must, 
whatever  be  their  present  prospects  or  determinations,  be 
men  to  whom  Georgia  will  look  as  the  supporters  of  her 
rights,  as  the  vindicators  of  her  fame,  as  the  leaders  of  her 
councils,  as  the  representatives  of  her  principles,  as  her 
protectors  in  our  federation ;  and  others  upon  wThom  she 
will  rely  to  interweave  new  flowers  in  the  garland  of  her 
literature.  May  I  say  to  them,  that,  whilst  they  seek  even 
from  their  own  Demosthenes,  to  learn  how  they  may  succeed 
like  him  who 

"  Wielded  at  will  that  fierce   democratic, 
Shook  the  arsenal,  and  fulmined   over  Greece, 
To  Macedou  and  Artaxerxes1  throne ;'' 

they  should  know  his  weakness,  avoid  his  faults,  and  receive 


58        THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

a  solemn  warning  from  his  fate.  Had  his  sole  ambition  been 
his  country's  good,  his  corpse  would  not  have  fallen  disgrace- 
fully upon  Neptune's  altar. 

On  an  afternoon  in  the  early  period  of  the  summer,  a 
few  years  since,  I  stood  upon  a  balcony  where  the  country- 
seat  of  Cicero  overhung  an  eminence.  The  air  was  soft 
yet  bracing;  Gaeta  was  at  a  little  distance  on  my  left, 
the  blue  Mediterranean  rippled  at  a  distance  on  the  south- 
western border,  groves  of  orange  and  of  lemon  trees  filled  a 
large  portion  of  the  plain  which  stretched  below  towards  the 
shore,  and  their  delicious  perfume  arose  mingled  with  that 
of  many  other  delicate  odors  from  the  gardens  and  the 
herbs.  It  was  like  the  richness  of  his  own  eloquence.  But 
where  was  the  orator?  It  was  through  the  pathways  of 
that  plain  he  was  pursued.  It  was  near  that  blue  wave  he 
descended  from  his  litter,  thence  was  his  head  borne  to  the 
cruel  Anthony.  Need  I  remind  you  of  Fulvia's  revenge  ? 
And  even  in  the  midst  of  the  disastrous  estrangements  and 
the  cruel  hatred  of  faction  and  of  party  contest,  the  very 
populace  of  Rome  wept  at  beholding  the  head  and  the  hand 
of  their  once-loved  defender  exhibited  upon  the  very  rostrum 
where  they  hung  upon  his  lips. 

Yes,  it  is  a .  dangerous  eminence !  Honesty  of  purpose 
and  unbending  integrity,  unswerving  perseverance  in  pre- 
ferring principle  to  popular  applause,  in  worshipping  Fabri- 
cian  integrity  rather  than  Plutus,  or  power,  or  office,  will, 
if  any  human  means  can,  sustain  you  in  safety.  But  the 
temptations  are  great,  and  there  are  but  few  who  resist 
them ;  hence  the  victims  are  numerous,  and  the  fortunate 
are  few. 

Georgia  has  at  this  day  at  least  one  sweet  poet,  whose 
heart  is  as  kind  as  his  lines  are  delightful.  It  may  be, — and 
let  us  expect  that  it  will, — that  other  streams  besides  the 
Savannah  should  resound  with  the  song.  In  reading  Lord 
Lyttleton's  address  to  Pope,  you  will  perceive  that  he  fancies, 
at  the  tomb  of  Virgil,  that  mighty  bard  to  arise  and  com- 
mission him  to  deliver  an  admonition  to  the  British  poet. 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  THE  SCHOLAR.        59 

I  have  stood  upon  the  same  epot,  and  a  lovely  one  it  is, 
elevated  nearly  over  the  entrance  of  the  great  grotto  of 
Posilippo,  on  the  headland  which  divides  the  Gulf  of  Naples 
from  the  waters  of  Baise.  All  the  inspiration  of  poetry  is 
found  in  the  very  breeze  that  passes  over  it.  With  a  few 
necessary  alterations,  let  me  address,  from  the  mighty 
Mantuan,  that  same  admonition  to  you : 

"Crowned  with  eternal  bays  my  ravished  eyes 
Beheld  the  poet's  awful  form  arise ; 
Stranger,  he  said,  whose  pious  hand  has  paid 
These  grateful  rites  to  my  attentive  shade, 
When  thou  shalt  breathe  thy  happy  western  air, 
Thither  this  message  to  its  poets  bear. 
If  high  exalted  on  the  throne  of  wit, 
Near  me  and  Homer  you  aspire  to  sit, 
Of  you  quite  worthy,  were  the  task  to  raise 
A  lasting  column  to  your  country's  praise, 
To  sing  the  land,  which  yet  alone  can  boast 
That  liberty  which  other  nations  lost. 
Where  science  in  the  arms  of  peace  is  laid, 
And  plants  her  palm  beneath  the  olive's  shade; 
Such  was  the  theme  for  which  my  lyre  I  strung. 
Such  was  the  people  whose  exploits  I  sung. 
Brave,  yet  refined,  for  arms  and  arts  renown'd, 
With  different  bays  by  Mars  and   Phoebus  crown'd— 
Dauntless  opposers  of   tyrannic  sway, 
But  pleased  the  State's  just  edicts  to  obey. 

If  this  advice  submissive  you  receive, 
Immortal  and  unblamed  your  name  shall  live. 
Envy  to  black  Cocytus  shall  retire, 
And  howl  with  Furies  in  tormenting  fire, 
Approving  time  shall  consecrate  your  lays, 
And  join  the  patriot's  to  the  poet's  praise." 

At  the  period  of  the  confederation,  Georgia  was  the 
youngest  amongst  her  sisters.  She  now  beholds  as  many 
States  succeeding  her  on  the  catalogue  as  there  were  orig- 
inally united.  Yet  a  large  portion  of  her  territory  has  been 
only  lately  placed  in  the  hands  of  her  citizens.  Immense 
bodies  of  her  finest  soil  are  yet  unbroken  by  the  cultivator, 
her  rivers  are  not  cleared,  nor  is  her  mineral  wealth 
explored.  We  know  that  rich  veins  are  concealed  beneath 


60  THE   PLEASURES    UP    ThE   SCHOLAR. 

her  surface,  but  their  value  is  scarcely  appreciated,  nor  can 
the  mind  yet  estimate  their  extent.  The  spirit  of  her  sons, 
and  the  wisdom  of  her  councils,  have  already  made  her  the 
high-road  by  which,  not  only  her  own  products  and  imports 
will  be  rapidly  conveyed,  but  by  which  nations  and  their 
wealth  must  be  transported.  Let  it  be  so  with  her  literature. 
Let  her  University  be  generously  sustained.  Let  her 
children  devote  their  leisure  hours  to  polite  and  scientific 
recreation.  Her  riches  will  be  developed ;  the  cultivation  of 
her  taste  will  decorate  her  amongst  her  sisters, —  her  hidden 
treasures  will  be  explored ;  from  the  east  and  from  the  west, 
from  the  north  and  from  the  south,  will  she  be  visited, 
admired,  and  enriched  by  contribution.  And  as  she  rises  in 
the  scale  of  political  and  commer-cial  importance,  so  shall  she 
be  elevated  in  scientific  and  literary  fame. 


IT  is  a  matter  of  notoriety,  that  during  several  ages  a 
practice  has  prevailed,  more  or  less  generally,  amongst  civil- 
ized nations,  of  terminating  some  differences  of  individuals 
by  single  combat,  in  a  manner  previously  arranged ;  and 
this  fight  has,  at  times,  been  considered  a  very  becoming 
and  honorable  mode  of  closing  those  altercations.  Some 
persons  have  frequently  endeavored  to  find  in  what  cir- 
cumstance of  the  duel  the  quality  of  honor  consisted,  but 
have  been  baffled,  sometimes  by  the  diversity  of  cases,  all 
said  to  be  honorable ;  at  other  times  by  the  opposition  to 
correct  principles  in  those  general  but  essential  character- 
istics which  were  found  in  every  case. 

I  must  avow,  that  I  do  not  recollect  a  moment  when 
I  did  not  feel  the  practice  to  be  censurable,  though  I  do 
remember  a  time  when  I  was  under  what  I  now  believe 
to  have  been  a  very  erroneous  impression ;  that  engaging 
in  such  a  combat  was,  at  least,  an  exhibition  of  courage; 
hence  I  never  conceived  it  to  be  honorable.  And  having 
been  upon  terms  of  intimacy  with  several  men  of  powerful 
mind  and  generally  correct  feeling,  and  in  vain  sought  to 
learn  from  them  in  what  one  or  more  circumstances  of  the 
practice  honor  consisted,  I  could  never  obtain  any  elucida- 
tion. AVas  it  in  killing  your  adversary  ?  No !  for  honor 
was  generally  satisfied  without  his  death,  and  very  fre- 
quently after  the  discharge  of  a  pistol  which  inflicted  a 
Avound  upon  public  morality  alone,  the  parties  who  previ- 

'An  address  delivered  before  the  Anti-duellinff  Society  of  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  the  year  1828. 

(61) 


62  DUELLING. 

ously  appeared  to  seek  mutual  destruction  became  fast  and 
honorable  friends.  Was  it  in  violating  the  law  ?  Was  it 
in  exposing  one's  self  to  be  slain  by  an  insolent  aggressor? 
Was  it  all  these  united?  Is  honor  then  the  result  of 
blended  revenge,  violation  of  law,  and  wanton  exposure  of 
life  to  the  weapon  of  an  unreasonable  opponent  ?  To  this 
inquiry  I  could  obtain  no  better  answer  than  that  reasonable 
and  honorable  men  approved  of  the  practice,  and  thought 
it  necessary  for  preserving  the  decorum  of  society. 

No  person  can  be  more  disposed  than  I  am,  as  well 
from  feeling  as  from  principle,  to  bow  with  deference  before 
the  tribunal  of  such  men.  I  am  generally  inclined  to  con- 
sider their  maxims  to  be  the  dictates  of  the  general  or 
common  sense  of  mankind,  and  since  I  prefer  the  collected 
experience  and  reasoning  of  the  bulk  of  society  to  the 
results  of  my  own  weak  efforts,  I  believe  it  to  be  the 
suggestion  of  reason,  and  the  duty  of  an  individual,  to 
admit  that  he  is  not  as  wise  as  is  the  collective  body  of  his 
fellow  men.  I  am,  therefore,  prepared  to  view  most  favor- 
ably, and  with  what  I  call  a  fair  partiality,  any  practice 
which  the  great  body  of  reasonable  and  honorable  men, 
after  mature  reflection,  and  as  the  expression  of  their  judg- 
ment, and  not  of  their  prejudices,  will  say  is  necessary,  or 
even  useful,  to  preserve  the  order  of  society,  and  the 
decorum  of  civil  intercourse.  But  I  am  distinctly  of  opinion, 
that  the  good  sense  and  sober  judgment  of  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  upright  and  educated  men  are  altogether  opposed 
to  the  practice  of  duelling,  as  not  only  useless  for  society, 
but  as  criminal  and  mischievous  in  its  results.  Hence,  I 
consider  the  answer  which  I  have  received  to  be  the  too 
hasty  expression  of  an  opinion  too  lightly  examined,  and 
to  be  founded  altogether  upon  mistakes. 

As  you  have  done  me  the  honor  of  delivering  your  first 
address,  you  will,  perhaps,  excuse  me  for  taking  up  the 
subject  in  a  more  technical  manner  than  would  be  neces- 
sary for  any  future  occasion. 

To   know   then   the   matter    exactly  for    our    consideration, 


DUELLING.  63 

we  had  better  look  to  the  etymology  of  the  name,  the 
nature  of  the  act,  and  the  history  of  the  practice,  so  that 
our  view  of  the  subject  might  be  more  accurate,  and  our 
conclusions  more  just.  The  Latin  word  Duellum  means,  as 
it  were,  bettum  inter  duo,  or  duorum  bellum,  "War  between 
two  persons."  The  nature  of  war  is  attempted  injury  after 
due  notice.  Thus,  to  constitute  a  duel,  there  must  be  notice 
given  of  an  intended  attempt  to  do  an.  injury,  together 
with  a  warning  to  be  prepared  for  defence ;  and  in  this 
it  differs  from  assassination  or  assault,  of.  which  no  previ- 
ous notice  had  been  given,  just  as  regular  war  differs 
from  an  unforseen  predatory  or  piratical  incursion.  A  duel 
is  then  a  private  warfare  between  two  individuals,  and  is 
generally  terminated  by  a  battle  with  deadly  weapons,  of 
a  determined  description,  at  a  defined  time  and  place.  In 
this  description  we  must  particularly  notice  the  circumstance 
of  its  being  a  private  warfare ;  that  is,  undertaken  by  pri- 
vate authority,  and  the  word  duel  is  now,  in  its  applica- 
tion, limited  to  the  battle  only.  Hence  the  combat  between 
David  and  Goliath  was  not  a  duel,  but  was  a  portion  of 
regular,  public  warfare,  carried  on  by  the  public  authority 
of  two  nations;  and  a  more  humane  mode  of  terminating 
a  contest  than  would  be  the  general  encounter  between  two- 
numerous  and  brave  armies.  In  like  manner,  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  Horatii  and  Curiatii  for  the  Roman  and  Sabine 
armies  was  a,  humane  regulation  by  public  authority;  and 
therefore  neither  of  those,  nor  any  of  several  similar  instances 
with  which  history  furnishes  us,  can  be  looked  upon  as  a 
duel.  The  combatants  were  not  urged  forward  by  private 
feelings,  nor  did  they  act  by  private  authority. 

In  seeking  for  the  origin  of  this  practice,  we  may  close 
the  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  neither  do  India,  Chal- 
dea,  or  Egypt  assist  us  in  our  research.  We  are  told, 
indeed,  that  it  was  a  portion  of  that  fine  system  of  chiv- 
alry which  decorated  the  middle  ages  of  Europe,  and  the 
witchery  of  that  romance  which  writers  have  generally  sub- 
stituted for  the  history  of  that  undefined  period,  like  the 


DUELLING. 

magic  of  its  sorcerers,  bewilders  the  fancy,  and  deludes  us 
with  visions  of  glory  and  of  fame.  The  splendor  of  the 
tournament  is  conjured  up  for  the  imagination,  the  lists 
are  prepared,  the  flattering  crowd  presses  forward  to  that 
field  over  which  pageantry,  royalty,  and  valor  preside;  the 
loud  notes  of  the  trumpet  announce  the  heralds'  approach ; 
the  mounted  challenger  appears,  and  properly  accompanied, 
courses  through  the  inclosure,  paying  homage  to  those  to 
whom  it  is  due,  and  waits  in  proud  defiance  to  confirm 
by  his  bearing  that  denunciation  which  is  made  in  his 
name.  His  trumpet  is  answered ;  another  herald  appears 
with  the  reply ;  the  marshals  arrange  the  order  of  combat, 
and  the  opponents  take  their  ground.  Fear,  hope,  joy,  sor- 
row, and  exultation  alternately  and  tumultuously  seize  upon 
the  mind  of  the  young  enthusiast,  the  shout  of  victory,  the 
feast  of  triumph,  the  rhapsody  of  the  poet,  the  spell  of 
the  musician,  and  the  fascination  of  the  theatre  blend  with 
the  sweet  voices  of  our  youth,  and  the  scene  is  associated 
with  all  that  excites  the  imagination,  and  affects  the  heart ; 
honor,  love,  fidelity,  and  fame,  in  a  word,  chivalry  and 
the  duel  are  identified. 

It  would  be  natural  to  expect  that  they,  who  seek  only 
to  divert  the  mind,  would  rest  content  with  this  exhibi- 
tion ;  but  they  who  desire  knowledge  must  ask  its  origin. 
It  would,  perhaps,  be  natural  to  expect  that  thoughtless 
and  uninformed  youth  should  be  led  away  by  such  an 
exhibition ;  but  it  becomes  persons  of  understanding,  and 
those  having  a  consciousness  of  moral  accountability,  to 
inquire  whether  such  a  practice  is  reasonable  and  safe.  Let 
us  then  trace  the  history  and  make  the  inquiry. 

The  knights  of  those  chivalric  days  were  principally 
descended  from  the  chieftains  of  those  hordes,  which,  in 
the  early  period  of  the  Christian  era,  spread  themselves 
over  the  face  of  Europe.  Issuing  from  the  icy  North,  they 
locked  up  in  their  cold  fetters  the  minds  and  limbs  of  the 
vSiirvivors  of  their  opponents.  Long,  desperate,  and  with 
various  success,  was  the  conflict  between  the  panegyrist  of 


UUELLIXG.  65 

"\Voden,  of  Thor,  and  of  Freya,  and  the  disciples  of  the 
Cross.  As  the  maxims  of  the  Gospel  won  upon  the  mind  of 
the  barbarian,  you  might  observe  frequently  the  strange 
coexistence  of  discordant  practices,  and  the  awkward  attempts 
of  ignorance  or  of  imbecility,  to  reconcile  contradictions. 
He  who  would,  by  the  torch  of  history,  learn  the  facts  which 
explain  many  of  the  mysteries  of  those  days,  must  penetrate 
into  the  caverns  of  Scandinavia,  converse  with  the  Runic 
Scald,  and  frequently  extend  his  journey  along  the  banks 
of  the  Danube,  the  Ister,  and  the  Boristhenes,  towards  the 
ancient  forests  of  Sarmatia  and  Scythia,  into  which  the  great 
forefathers  of  this  race  strayed  from  the  vicinity  of  America. 
I  shall  not  at  present  lead  you  through  so  extended  a  path ; 
we  will  not  proceed  farther  than  Denmark,  and  the  discov- 
eries there  made  will  give  to  us  the  origin  of  our  chivalrous 
exhibition. 

We  are  informed  by  our  antiq»arians,  that,  amongst  the 
ancient  Suevi  and  Goths,  there  was  a  custom,  from  time 
immemorial,  of  deciding  differences  in  a  mode  called  cenwig, 
of  which  there  were  two  kinds ;  the  one  was  conventional, 
the  other  judicial :  the  first  corresponded  exactly  with  our 
present  duel,  the  other  with  what  in  England  was  known  as 
trial  by  combat.  The  first  was  a  fight  by  private  authority, 
from  private  motives,  but  at  an  appointed  time  and  place ; 
the  second  was  a  battle  at  a  time  and  place,  and  with 
weapons  appointed  by  the  judges  of  the  horde,  to  be  fought 
under  the  direction  of  marshals  of  the  field;  and  though, 
perhaps,  it  might  appear  extraordinary,  in  this  trial  by 
combat,  which  was  the  last  resort  upon  the  failure  of  testi- 
mony and  enlightened  judgment,  the  parties  looked  for  the 
special  intervention  of  the  Deity,  to  manifest  not  only  the 
truth  of  fact,  but  the  application  of  law,  by  bestowing  victory 
as  well  upon  him  who  had  right  upon  his  side,  as  upon  him 
who  made  a  true  statement ;  for  it  often  happened  in  the 
cenwig,  that  both  parties  admitted  the  same  facts,  but  differed 
only  as  to  the  law,  the  application  of  which  was  to  be  settled 
by  the  issue  of  the  combat.  Which  of  us  would,  at  this 

5 


66  DUELLING. 

day,  think  of  taking  a  knotty  case  of  law  or  of  equity  from 
the  mooting  of  our  legal  friends  and  the  wisdom  of  our 
courts,  to  be  decided  by  the  erudite  discrimination  of  a  hair- 
trigger?  Yet,  such  is  one  of  the  principles  upon  which 
duelling  is  based. 

In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  we 
find  the  descendants  of  the  first  northern  invaders  in  posses- 
sion and  in  power,  in  several  parts  of  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Italy. 
Whilst  the  Franks,  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Elbe,  were 
settling  down  in  the  northern  regions  of  Gaul,  the  Goths  and 
the  Burgundians  occupied  the  more  southern  provinces. 
About  the  year  500,  we  find  the  Gombette  law  enacted  by 
Gonebald,  King  of  Burgundy,  in  which  men  were  for  the 
first  time,  in  a  country  claiming  to  be  civilized,  commanded 
to  refer  to  the  duel  the  termination  of  those  disputes  which 
could  not  be  decided  by  oaths  and  testimony.  This  king 
was  an  Arian,  but  the  law  was  observed  and  enforced  by  his 
orthodox  successors,  and  this  we  may  look  upon  as  the  foun- 
dation of  chivalric  trial  by  combat.  Having  now  obtained 
the  royal  sanction  in  Burgundy,  and  the  settlers  in  the 
vicinity  tracing  their  origin  and  drawing  their  customs  from 
Scandinavia,  being  also  disposed  to  adopt  and  follow  the 
maxims  and  observances  of  their  progenitors,  the  senseless 
and  pernicious  practice  soon  spread  throughout  the  whole 
Gallic  territory. 

About  the  close  of  the  ninth  century,  the  Christian 
missionaries  had  made  some  impression  upon  Denmark,  and 
early  in  the  succeeding  age,  upon  the  death  of  Svveyn,  the 
first  Danish  monarch  of  England,  and  father  of  Canute  the 
Great,  his  eldest  son  Harold,  who  succeeded  him  in  his 
continental  domains,  being  a  zealous  disciple  of  the  Christian 
law,  abolished  the  ancient  and  barbarous  practice  of  duels, 
since  which  time  the  Danish  government  has  punished,  with 
exemplary  severity,  criminals  who  violated  this  prohibitory 
law.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  laws  of  Harold 
were  not  more  generally  adopted  and  acted  upon  by  other 
nations;  but  it  is  matter  of  consolation  to  find  that  the 


DUELLING.  G7 

remedy  was  first  applied  where  the  malady  was  first  exhib- 
ited; and  that  in  the  region  where  this  pernicious  practice 
emanated,  the  introduction  of  Christianity  and  of  civilization 
caused  its  decay.  Much  as  the  mind  desires  to  rest  upon 
this  green  spot  in  the  dreary  waste,  we  must  proceed  with 
the  history  of  the  practice.  It  was  not  retained  by  the  first 
Saxon  settlers  of  Britain;  and  Canute,  the  Dane,  shared 
much  of  the  Christian  sentiment  of  his  brother  Harold. 
Thus,  although  France,  especially,  was  now  the  asylum  of 
this  banished  offspring  of  the  North,  we  find  its  influence 
scarcely  felt  in  the  neighboring  regions.  Even  the  Germans 
began  soberly  to  reflect  upon  the  folly  of  seeking  judicial 
decisions  at  the  point  of  the  lance  or  by  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  and  were  already  convinced  that  it  was  a  manifest 
tempting  of  heaven,  for  a  puny  and  weak  being  who  felt  that 
he  had  right,  without  proof,  to  trust  to  the  prowess  of  his 
arm,  for  its  manifestation  against  the  ruffian  force  and  prac- 
ticed agility  of  some  blustering  robber,  whom  strength  had 
made  .  bold,  want  had  rendered  desperate,  and  deeds  of 
iniquity  had  inured  to  blood. 

Superstition  is  the  expecting  from  any  act  supernatural 
effects,  for  attaining  which,  by  such  means,  God  has  given 
no  promise;  thus,  several  persons,  at  that  very  early  period, 
deemed  it  to  be  absurd  and  superstitious  tempting  of  heaven, 
to  engage  in  such  conflicts  for  the  vindication  of  right, 
because  they  saw  that,  upon  no  reasonable  principle,  could 
they  hope  for  such  a  result,  except  by  a  miracle,  which  He, 
who  alone  could  work  a  miracle,  had  not  pledged  Himself 
to  perform. 

The  Lombards,  who  had  settled  in  Italy,  regulated  that 
those  judicial  battles  should  take  place  under  proper  inspec- 
tion, and  the  combatants  were  allowed  to  use  only  staves 
and  shields;  thus,  although  the  absurd  principle  was  retained, 
there  was  an  apparent  blending  of  humanity  in  their  super- 
stition. Most  of  the  duels  of  those  ages  were  appeals  to 
heaven  to  speed  the  right.  Can  you  discover  any  principle 
of  religion  or  of  good  sense,  that  could  warrant  such  an 


C8  DUELLING. 

appeal?  Do  you  recollect  the  general  feeling  of  disapproba- 
tion and  of  horror,  with  which  the  appeal  to  combat  by 
Abraham  Thornton  was  received  in  England,  a  few  years 
since,  when,  to  save  himself  from  the  probability  of  an 
ignominious  death,  he  met  the  appeal  of  the  brother  of 
her  who  had  been  murdered  with  the  legal  offer  of 
wager '  of  battle  ?  Suppose  this  unfortunate  man  was  the 
seducer  and  the  murderer  of  the  too-confiding  victim  of 
his  double  brutality,  in  what  consisted  the  propriety  or 
honor  'of  permitting,  under  the  sanction  of  law,  what  his 
frame  showed  to  be  a  natural  consequence,  the  cruel 
destruction  of  an  afflicted  brother,  who  invoked  the  public 
justice  of  society  upon  the  destroyer  of  a  beloved  sister? 
Reason,  religion,  and  honor  unite  in  the  reprobation  of  so 
nefarious  a  mockery  of  law. 

I  said  that  it  was  not  used  by  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  we 
have  seen  that  it  was  abolished  in  Denmark,  at  the  time  that 
Canute  ruled  over  England.  But,  at  this  period,  the  spirit 
of  Normandy  gave  its  full  sanction  to  the  custom ;  and 
when  William  I  began  to  give  his  laws  to  the  subjugated 
English,  he  introduced  the  trial  by  duel,  according,  indeed,  to 
the  Englishman,  whom  a  Frenchman  might  appal,  the  con- 
tumelious privilege,  if  he  were  weak,  of  looking  for  a  stronger 
substitute.  This  was  its  first  legal  establishment  in  that 
country,  where  the  principle  of  the  law  has  continued  in 
force  down  to  a  very  late  period,-  if  not  to  the  present  day. 
How  far  in  theory  it  might,  even  now,  be  part  of  the  law 
of  South  Carolina,  and  of  those  other  portions  of  our  Union 
which  have  preserved  the  common  law  of  England,  it  is  not 
for  me  to  say. 

Hitherto  I  have  only  considered  that  species  of  duel 
which  is  judicial,  and  which  has  been  sometimes  carried 
solemnly  into  legal  effect.  If  any  description  of  this  com- 
bat could  be  defended  upon  principle,  this  alone  could  have 
the  benefit  of  such  defence,  because  it  was  not  undertaken 
by  private  but  by  public  authority ;  it  was  not  supposed 
to  be  entered  upon  him  from  motives  of  revenge,  but  for 


DUELLING.  69 

the  manifestation  of  truth,  and  the  parties,  about  to  engage, 
made  their  solemn  appeal  to  heaven  to  defend  the  right ; 
the  judges  of  the  land  and  other  public  officers,  sometimes 
even  the  monarch  himself,  presided,  and  sometimes  an  igno- 
rant, or  a  timid,  or  a  negligent  clergyman  offered  up  his 
public  prayer  to  heaven  to  speed  the  right,  and  to  mani- 
fest the  truth,  thus  seeking  the  decision  of  that  eternal 
Judge  who  did  not  always  give  the  race  to  the  swift,  or  the 
victory  to  the  strong,  and  whose  providence  regulated  the 
affairs  of  individuals  equally  as  of  communities. 

I  shall  briefly  allude  to  the  principles  upon  which  this 
judicial  combat  is  plainly  criminal  in  its  own  nature;  whence 
it  must  follow,  that,  although  the  individuals  who  under 
the  national  sanction  engaged  therein,  might  be  sometimes 
excusable  upon  the  ground  of  ignorance,  the  act  of  the 
government  itself  was  void  and  sinful.  Indeed  it  would  now 
appear  to  be  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  detain  you  with 
an  allusion,  but  that  it  might  serve  to  elucidate  other  cases 
which  we  shall  have  to  consider. 

It  is  a  recognized  principle  of  law,  that  no  subordinate 
tribunal  can  sanction  what  the  superior  has  prohibited.  No 
authority  could  make  superstition  innocent  or  lawful ;  and 
until  it  could  be  shown  that  God  Himself  authorized  the 
appeal  to  be  made  to  Him,  for  a  decision  in  the  mode 
alluded  to,  to  make  it  in  that  mode  is  clearly  criminal. 
The  Jewish  woman  who  had  recourse  to  the  waters  of 
jealousy,  for  the  manifestation  of  her  innocence,  performed 
a  becoming  act,  because  the  Almighty  had  created  this  mode 
of  appeal,  and  to  have  recourse  to  a  divine  institution  for 
the  purpose  intended  by  its  Author,  is  surely  an  act  of 
religious  homage,  not  a  crime.  But  they  who  derived  the 
custom  of  the  duel  from  the  barbarians  of  Dacia  and  of 
Scandinavia,  did  not  pretend  to  a  divine  sanction  for  their 
conduct ;  they  only  blended  the  superstition  of  the  pagan 
with  the  profession  of  Christianity.  They  might  have  seen 
the  evidence  of  their  inconsistency  in  Deuteronomy  and  in 
the  Gospels,  where  the  precept  was  given  and  reiterated,  not 


70  DUELLING. 

to  tempt  the  Lord  their  God.  Superstition  is  a  vice 
specially  opposed  to  true  religion,  and  strictly  forbidden  by 
the  divine  law ;  hence  no  human  tribunal,  however  extended 
its  power  or  high  its  station,  could  give  a  sanction  to  this 
practice.  The  civil  law  expressly  condemned  those  fights, 
and  repeated  censures  'of  them,  as  well  as  of  other  like 
ordeals,  are  found  in  the  canon  law  of  the  Church.  The 
Popes  frequently  used  their  best  exertions  to  have  the  evil 
extinguished,  as  might  be  seen,  to  omit  a  multitude  of 
other  documents,  in  the  letter  of  Nicholas  I  to  King 
Charles  the  Bald,  of  France,  about  the  year  850,  in  the 
acts  of  Innocent  II,  about  1140,  and  in  the  same  cen- 
tury in  those  of  Eugenius  III,  Celestine  III,  and  Alex- 
ander III,  in  whose  pontificate  the  third  Council  of  Lat- 
eran,  in  which  about  three  hundred  bishops  sat,  con- 
demned the  practice  as  impious.  Innocent  IV,  in  1252, 
wrote  upon  the  subject  to  the  clergy  of  France,  and  at 
the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Leo  X  and 
even  Julius  II  enacted  heavy  censures  against  duellists. 
"We  have  also  similar  acts  of  several  of  their  successors, 
and  a  very  severe  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  the 
nineteenth,  on  reformation  of  those  which  were  passed  in  the 
twenty-fifth  session,  on  the  3d  of  December,  1563.  However 
the  various  portions  of  the  Christian  body  which  have  with- 
drawn from  the  communion  of  that  council  and  those  Popes, 
might  differ  from  them  in  doctrines  of  faith,  I  believe 
they  unite  with  them  in  the  condemnation  of  such  combats 
for  such  a  purpose,  as  superstitious  and  otherwise  highly 
criminal,  and  not  to  be  sanctioned  or  justified  by  any  law 
or  custom.  I  believe  we  should  scarcely  find  an  indi- 
vidual disposed  to  advocate  judicial  combats  at  the  present 
day,  yet  they  are  that  species  of  duel  which  is  upon  prin- 
ciple the  most  susceptible  of  defence. 

We  now  proceed  to  examine  the  other  descriptions  of 
combat,  which,  resting  solely  on  the  private  authority  of 
individuals,  and  not  having  been  sanctioned  by  any  sem- 
blance of  law,  are,  more  properly  speaking,  duels  according 


DUELLIXG.  71 

to  our  present  acceptation  of  the  word.  The  Scandinavian 
lias  also  this  species  of  cenwig.  Civilians  and  canonists 
have  varied  from  each  other  in  their  distribution  of  the 
kinds,  the  former  looking  rather  to  the  conditions,  the  latter 
more  to  the  objects  of  the  fight.  Perhaps  we  shall  be  better 
able  to  proceed  with  regularity  if  we  view  both  enumerations. 

Civilians  called  a  duel  decretory,  when  it  was  decreed  or 
stipulated  that  the  contest  should  terminate  only  by  the 
death  of  one  of  the  parties ;  propugnating,  when  a  combatant 
went  to  fight,  not  for  the  purpose  of  slaying  his  adversary, 
but  of  defending  his  honor;  and  satisfactory,  when  an 
injured  person  sought  to  destroy  his  aggressor,  unless  he 
made  due  compensation.  Theologians  placed  first  that  to 
manifest  truth,  which  is  the  judicial;  next  to  which  is  that 
to  terminate  controversy,  but  this  contained  a  new  character- 
istic ingredient,  that  the  parties  so  hate  each  other  that  death 
only  is  likely  to  prevent  their  quarrels;  the  third  is  to  exhibit 
prowess;  the  fourth  to  avoid  ignominy,  nearly  allied  to  which 
is  that  to  defend  honor;  the  sixth  to  prevent  war.  Taking 
the  theological  enumeration,  we  have  disposed  of  the  first,  no 
person  will  attempt  to  justify  the  second,  the  last  we  may 
omit,  because  it  is  one  which  on  all  hands  is  admitted  to  be 
lawful  and  sometimes  beneficial,  and  is  not  within  the  range 
of  our  definition,  as  it  is  undertaken  by  public  authority, 
in.  a  public  cause. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  the  practice  of  private  duels 
was  greatly  promoted  by  the  wager  of  battle  and  by  the 
tournament ;  whose  nature  I  now  proceed  to  examine.  When 
it  was  not  a  judicial  trial  for  the  manifestation  of  truth,  it 
was  of  that  description  called  for  the  exhibition  of  prowess; 
that  is,  a  vain  boasting  of  strength,  agility,  or  pugnacious 
skill.  The  bad  principle  is  the  same,  whether  we  behold  it 
in  two  young  knights  who,  with  the  eyes  of  the  prowess, 
and  beauty,  and  pride  of  a  nation  fixed  upon  them,  seek  for 
reputation  in  the  lists,  or  in  the  gladiator  at  the  ancient 
games,  in  the  prize  fighter  of  the  modern  ring,  or  in  a  pair 
of  our  wagoners  who  contend  for  superiority  in  mutual 


72  LUELLIXG.' 

whipping.  Wretched  weakness  of  our  miserable  nature ! 
Glaring  evidence  of  our  degradation!  We  profess  to  admire 
benignity  and  its  concomitant  good  qualities ;  we  place  charity 
at  the  head  of  the  catalogue  of  virtues ;  whilst  we  indulge 
a  secret  gratification  at  beholding  scenes  of  wanton  cruelty, 
of  bloodshed,  and  of  death;  and  encourage  to  deeds  of  mere 
brutal  prowess  those  whom  we  would  venerate  for  the  practice 
of  the  opposite  virtues.  To  what  shall  we  trace  this  singular 
but  manifest  deordination  ?  Whilst  reason  almost  instinc- 
tively tells  us  that  this  injury  of  others  for  the  gratification 
of  our  own  pride,  or  vanity,  or  curiosity,  is  bad,  we  labor 
to  create  sophisms  for  its  justification,  and  strive  to  convince 
ourselves  that  our  natural  convictions  are  mistakes.  So  it 
is  that  the  children  of  Adam  are  led  by  the  impetuosity 
of  passion  against  the  admonitions  of  the  understanding ; 
and  then,  to  silence  the  voice  of  conscience,  they  compel  or 
they  suborn  the  intellect,  to  appear  as  the  advocate  of  that 
which,  in  its  free  and  unsophisticated  moments,  it  condemned. 
Such,  my  friends,  is  the  lamentable  outline  which  we  must 
draw  if  we  would  sketch  correctly  the  picture  of  our  fallen 
race.  As  I  prefer  your  own  testimony  to  any  abstract 
reasoning  which  I  might  attempt,  I  shall  appeal  to  your- 
selves for  that  testimony  as  to  the  correctness  of  my  state- 
ment. Whether  would  you  admire  more  the  man  who, 
conscious  of  his  prowess,  sought  its  exhibition  in  the  injury 
of  his  opponent;  or  him  who,  with  a  like  consciousness, 
listened  to  the  dictates  of  humanity,  and  told  that  challenger, 
whom  he  could  crush  if  he  would,  that  as  there  existed  no 
necessity,  so  he  believed  there  existed  no  justification,  for 
doing  him  harm ;  and  hence,  although  his  presumption 
would  seem  to  call  for  chastisement,  yet  a  higher  authority 
insured  his  safety?  Is  there  not  here  the  grand  distinction 
between  the  indulgence  of  passion  and  its  restraint?  And 
which  is  more  worthy  of  your  esteem?  I  will  not  insult 
you  by  supposing  you  could  hesitate  about  the  decision. 
The  law  of  God,  the  law  of  right  u^ason,  the  common 
sense  of  the  world,  the  vast  preponderating  majority  of 


DUELLING.  73 

civilized  men,  condemn  as  irreligious,  unreasonable,  and 
consequently  unjustifiable,  the  practice  of  duelling  for  the 
exhibition  of  prowess ;  and  hence  you  will  often  find  the 
expression  of  pity  or  regret,  sometimes  even  the  half- 
suppressed  sneer  of  ridicule,  united  to  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  existence  of  strength,  dexterity,  and  animal  courage 
of  the  successful  combatant. 

It  might  be  proper  here  to  observe  that  a  wide  distinc- 
tion is  to  be  taken  between  duels  with  deadly  or  dangerous 
weapons,  or  combats  arising  from  hatred  or  a  desire  of 
revenge,  in  which  serious  injury  is  intended  to  the  opponent ; 
and  those  exercises  or  trials  of  strength  in  which  there  is 
no  danger  of  injury  nor  any  .  indulgence  of  bad  passion. 
These  latter  are  sometimes  used  for  village  relaxation  and 
amusement,  and  in  such  as  these  it  is  perhaps  good  policy 
and  wholesome  discipline  to  engage  men  whose  services 
might  be  required  in  the  field  of  war  for  the  benefit  of  their 
country.  Yet  in  those  trainings  and  trials  for  speed,  agility, 
strength,  and  steadiness,  care  should  be  taken  to  guard,  as 
much  as  possible,  against  inordinate  vanity,  or  the  harboring 
of  unkind  feelings.  I  am  led  to  dwell  the  more  upon  this 
distinction,  because  frequently  the  benefit  of  such  training  is 
assumed  as  ground  for  an  attempt  to  justify,  by  analogy,  the 
duels  which  I  have  condemned ;  but  as  I  do  not  admit  the 
analogy,  of  course  I  cannot  be  expected  to  allow  the  justifica- 
tion. I  shall  enter  more  largely  upon  this  topic,  also,  because 
I  have  often  heard  it  asserted  that  to  restrain  the  spirit 
which  led  to  duelling,  was  to  break  down  the  energies  and 
to  destroy  the  courage  of  the  soldier. 

I  am  under  the  impression  that  the  proper  qualifications 
of  a  good  soldier  are  not  to  be  always  found  in  the  man 
who,  for  the  indulgence  of  private  passion,  violates  the  laws 
of  God,  and  of  his  country.  There  is  one  conclusion  deeply 
impressed  upon  my  mind,  as  well  from  some  slight  oppor- 
tunities for  observation,  as  from  the  testimony  of  several 
whose  experience  was  very  ample,  and  from  the  nature  of 
the  case  itself;  that  conclusion  is,  that  he  who  has  performed 


74  DUELLING. 

well  and  conscientiously  his  religious  and  his  civil  duties, 
will  make  the  best  soldier  amongst  those  equal  to  him  in 
other  respects.  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  you  what,  in  my 
opinion,  forms  the  ground  of  much  error  on  this  head,  the 
accidental  possession  of  courage  by  a  profligate,  and  its  acci- 
dental want  in  a  man  who  is  religious  or  orderly;  but  it 
is  wrong  to  draw  general  conclusions  from  those  accidental 
facts.  We  all  know  that  the  degrees  of  courage  vary  in 
different  individuals.  What  a  multitude  of  its  gradations 
exist,  from  its  exhibition  in  him  who,  with  unmoved  nerve 
and  unrelaxed  muscles,  leads  his  division  to  the  breach 
which  vomits  destruction  and  bristles  with  bayonets,  to  the 
pale,  trembling  coward  whose  soul  shudders  and  whose 
knees  tremble  at  the  bare  anticipation  of  possible  danger ! 
And  how  various  are  its  characteristics,  from  the  manifesta- 
tion in  the  calm  martyr  who,  with  wealth,  titles,  and  worldly 
honors  at  one  side,  and  captivity,  chains,  destitution,  death, 
and  ignominy  upon  the  other,  stands  unmoved  in  his  firmly 
modest  declaration  that  he  cannot  deny  the  truth  of  what 
he  knows  to  be  a  fact,  to  its  glitter  in  him  who  cheers  his 
comrades  whilst  he  volunteers  upon  the  forlorn  hope!  The 
neglect  of  marking  those  several  kinds  and  degrees,  and  their 
several  combinations  in  different  individuals,  has  given  rise 
to  the  mistake,  and  led  some  officers  to  assert,  that  a  respect 
for  the  principles  of  religion  and  the  regulations  of  civil 
society  tended  to  destroy  that  bold  and  determined  char- 
acter so  necessary  for  the  army.  This  is,  indeed,  a  seri- 
ous mistake.  It  is  well  known  that  some  of  the  bravest 
officers  have  held  those  principles  and  regulations  in  the 
highest  respect,  whilst  they  openly  condemned  the  practice 
of  duels.  I  speak  of  a  fact,  not  merely  in  some  degree 
within  my  own  knowledge,  but  one  which  has  a  host  of 
testimony  for  its  support,  that  some  of  the  most  religious 
and  regularly  conducted  men  who  had  recourse  to  the  min- 
istry and  the  sacraments,  were  soldiers  who  had  the  esteem 
and  affection  of  their  officers,  not  only  for  the  regularity 
of  their  conduct,  but  for  their  steady  and  continued  hero- 


DUELLING.  75 

ism,  and  protracted  trials  and  desperate  attempts.  It  is 
also  unquestionably  true  that  men  of  desperate  bravery 
who  had  been,  as  it  were,  educated  in  violations  of  the 
law,  contempt  of  religion,  and  trials  of  their  courage,  were 
found  most  useful  against  the  enemy,  but,  like  Indian  allies, 
.when  not  thus  employed,  it  required  all  the  vigilance, 
agility,  and  power  of  discipline  and  law  to  keep  the  un- 
tamed desperadoes  from  the  indulgence  of  their  natural 
ferocity  upon  their  peaceable  fellow-citizens.  Had  those  men 
been  nurtured  under  the  restraints  of  civil  and  religious 
institutions,  they  would  have  lost  none  of  their  natural 
prowess,  and  it  would  have  been  more  easily  turned  to 
good  account.  I  make  the  assertion  from  having  been  sat- 
isfied that  some  of  these  nuisances  of  an  urmy,  who  had 
been  brought  under  such  restraints,  preserved  all  their  good 
qualities,  and  more  frequently  exhibited  them  refined  and 
improved  by  what  I  must  call  their  civilization, 

I  would  then  say  that  not  only  is  the  combat  for  the 
exhibition  of  prowess  irreligious  and  unreasonable,  but  so 
far  from  tending  to  the  perfection  of  courage,  or  the  fit- 
ting a  man  for  the  defence  of  his  country,  it  adds  nothing 
to  the  pre-existing  degrees  of  that  good  quality,  but,  by 
teaching  contempt  for  the  laws  of  God  and  of  society,  and 
encouraging  the  indulgence  of  a  bad  passion  and  of  self- 
will,  it  disqualifies  its  subject  for  submitting  to  that  severe 
discipline  and  moral  restraint  which  is  the  best  preservative 
of  an  efficient  army.  When  the  master  of  poetry  wrote, 

Ilonoratum  si  forte  reponis  Achillem 
Impiger,  iracundus,    inexorabilis,  acer 
Jura  nrget  sibi  nata,  nihil  non  arroget  armi*, 

he  did  not  intend  to  give  us  the  picture  of  a  good  and 
useful  soldier,  but  of  one  who  yielding  to  his  gust  of  passion, 
would  disobey  his  commander,  desert  his  colors,  and  because 
of  his  private  wrongs  pray  for  the  success  of  the  enemy 
and  the  ruin  of  the  army  in  which  he  served,  and  who 
is  again  brought  to  the  field,  not  by  a  sense  of  public 


76  LUELLIXG. 

duty,  but  roused  by  the  workings  of  private  friendship  to 
seek  unmeasured  revenge.  Such  exactly  is  the  soldier  whom 
the  principles  of  duelling  would  produce.  Judge  you,  how 
long  an  army  of  such  men  would  preserve  our  republic. 
"VVe  may  be  told,  surely,  that  an  ignominious  life  is  what 
neither  reason  nor  religion  would  compel  one  to  lead.  If, 
during  the  whole  period  of  a  man's  subsequent  existence, 
he  is,  for  the  omission  of  an  act,  to  be 

A  fixed  figure,  lor  the  hand  of  scorn 
To  point  his  slow  and  moving  finger  at, 

it  cannot  be  immoral  to  make  one  effort  for  relief  from 
so  cruel  a  state  of  degraded  endurance.  Does  the  end  then 
justify  the  means  ?  Are  we  at  liberty  to  relieve  ourselves 
from  an  unpleasant  predicament,  without  considering  the 
propriety  of  that  mode  by  which  we  may  be  extricated  ? 
Proclaim  the  maxim  to  the  highwayman  who  seeks  to 
relieve  his  poverty  by  plunder.  To  him  it  will  be  gratify- 
ing to  learn  that  this  principle  is  adopted  by  men  of  honor 
and  of  high  standing.  Whisper  it  to  the  innocent  victim  of 
another's  perjury.  He  has  languished  in  his  dungeon,  dread- 
ing conviction  for  an  infamous  crime,  which  he  never  con- 
templated; but  now  he  learns  that  since  we  are  not  to 
consider  the  dishonesty  of  the  means,  but  the  desirableness 
of  the  end,  the  dagger  of  some  friend  can  remove  the 
lying  accuser,  and  release  him  to  freedom  and  to  fame. 
You  are  startled  at  the  proposal,  and  well  you  may;  for 
never  was  a  more  atrocious  and  destructive  principle  insin- 
uated, than  that  the  end  justifies  the  means.  Neither  reason 
nor  religion  would  require  of  you  to  lead  an  ignominious 
life;  although  both  enjoin  that  you  shall  not  use  improper 
means  to  avoid  that  ignominy  of  which  you  are  so  appre- 
hensive. But  what  is  this  ignominy  that  you  dread?  Should 
you  not  dread  the  commission  of  crime  more  than  any 
imputation  ?  The  one  is  always  a  real  and  paramount  evil, 
the  other  is  often  only  imaginary  and  transient.  He  who 
would  commit  a  crime,  in  order  to  avoid  the  mockery  or 


DUELLING.  77 

the  condemnation  of  the  multitude,  is  a  weak  and  an  unprin- 
cipled man.  You  cannot  do  evil  that  good  may  arise 
therefrom ;  such  is  the  great  principle  of  sound  morality 
and  of  true  honor.  Is  he  who  enters  into  this  combat,  in 
compliance  with  prejudices,  or  the  partialities  of  the  public, 
or  to  conform  to  a  fashion  whose  principle  he  himself  con- 
demns, an  honorable  man?  That  you  are  not  to  do  evil 
is  an  absolute  principle  both  of  reason  and  'of  revelation ; 
hence  we  should,  in  considering  the  absolute  good  or  evil 
of  the  means,  throw  the  end  out  of  our  view.  I  shall 
now  merely  observe  that  the  combatant  who  is  roused  by 
such  a  motive  is  a  true  coward,  who,  in  the  conflict 
between  the  fear  of  ridicule  and  the  fear  of  crime,  yields 
to  the  former. 

It  is  said  that  no  species  of  moral  courage  exceeds  that 
of  a  man  who  follows  the  dictates  of  his  judgment  or  con- 
science, amidst  the  taunts  and  reproaches  of  the  world.  By 
this  sort  of  courage,  the  ancients  believed  their  far-famed 
Hercules  was  more  distinguished  than  by  his  labors  or  vic- 
tories. Certainly  our  divine  Redeemer  taught  admirable  les- 
sons upon  this  subject ;  the  principles  of  His  Gospel  are 
the  foundation  of  the  most  heroic  fortitude,  the  purest 
honor,  and  the  most  unbending  courage ;  in  His  discourses, 
we  find  lessons  which  exceed  the  perfection  of  the  most 
sublime  philosopher  as  much  as  heaven  exceeds  the  earth. 
But  since,  by  some  extraordinary  fatality,  whilst  it  is  avowed 
that  the  practice  of  duelling  is  clearly  condemned  by  the 
Christian  law,  persons,  who  profess  to  be  observers  of  that 
law,  attempt  to  vindicate  the  practice,  and  yet  declaim 
against  the  application  of  the  Gospel  maxims  in  examining 
the  subject,  I  have  determined  to  be  very  sparing  of  any 
aid  from  that  source ;  especially  as,  even  without  such  aid, 
I  trust  my  object  is  attainable.  Upon  what  ground  can 
he  who  engages  in  a  duel,  through  the  fear  of  ignominy, 
lay  claim  to  courage?  His  act  is,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
shall  still  more  fully  see,  plainly  immoral,  and  he  offends 
God,  because  he  fears  the  censure  of  men.  They  who  pos- 


78  DUELLING. 

sess  the  high  moral  virtue  of  fortitude  will  endure  the 
taunts  and  reproaches  of  the  world,  and  submit  willingly 
to  torture  of  body  and  inquietude  of  mind,  rather  than 
act  against  the  divine  law,  the  law  of  conscience,  or  the 
just  regulations  of  society;  this  is  what  I  consider  to  be 
the  true  test  of  honor.  Thus,  to  avoid  ignominy  is  not  a 
motive  which  would  justify  the  performance  of  an  unlawful 
action ;  and  no  truly  courageous  man  has  ever  yet  fought 
from  such  a  motive.  Ignominy,  as  regards  this  practice, 
is  a  phantom  to  terrify  the  timid,  to  govern  the  weak, 
and  to  force  cowards  to  assume  the  semblance  of  a  virtue 
which  they  have  not.  Hence,  it  has  frequently  and  justly 
been  observed,  that  they  who  entered  the  field  of  single 
combat,  to  preserve  their  names  from  the  post,  were  very 
inefficient  comrades  when  armies  rushed  to  the  charge.  Per- 
haps the  following  anecdote,  which  is  given  from  highly 
respectable  authority,  would  not  lead  far  towards  an  oppo- 
site conclusion. 

At  a  period  when  duelling  was  not  as  much  discounte- 
nanced as  it  ought  to  have  been  in  the  French  army,  a 
gentleman  of  very  strict  moral  habits  held  a  commission  in 
a  regiment,  and  having  refused  to  accept  an  offered  challenge, 
could  not  make  either  explanation  or  apology,  without  being 
guilty  of  the  exposure  of  another,  or  of  a  falsehood,  which 
he  abhorred  equally  as  he  did  the  duel.  His  peculiar  situ- 
ation did  not  permit  his  immediate  compliance  with  several 
suggestions  of  retirement,  and  he  had  to  endure  the  mor- 
tification of  remarks  and  coldness,  even  at  the  common 
table,  from  his  fellow-officers ;  he  was  designated  in  their 
circle  as  "  the  coward."  On  a  particular  occasion,  he 
was  observed  to  remain  long  after  the  period  at  which 
he  had  latterly  been  accustomed  to  retire,  and  his  feel- 
ings had  been  frequently  and  deeply  wounded  by  the 
major,  who  had  indeed  seldom  respected  them.  This  officer, 
upon  withdrawing,  was  quickly  followed  by  him  who  had 
been  the  object  of  his  reproach;  and  the  company  which 
they  had  left  was  soon  summoned  to  an  unexpected  scene. 


DUELLING.  7& 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  house,  they  found  the  major 
inquiring,  with  anxious  gratitude,  to  whom  he  owed  his- 
life,  which  had  been  assailed  in  the  dark  by  three  ruf- 
fians, and  heard  him  receive  the  calm  but  emphatic  answer — 
"  to  the  coward."  One  of  the  assailants  lay  a  corpse,  one 
seriously  wounded,  and  the  other  was  a  disarmed  prisoner 
in  the  coward's  grasp.  They  had  rushed  upon  a  man 
unable  to  protect  himself,  and  had  been  overcome  by  a 
man  who  had  too  much  courage  to  be  a  duellist.  To 
an  almost  involuntary  expression  of  surprise,  the  only  reply 
was:  "Major!  the  God  whom  we  profess  to  serve  has 
ordered  me  to  return  good  for  evil;  my  life  and  my  exer- 
tions are  the  property  of  my  king  and  the  French  nation. 
I  know  when  I  ought  to  be  prepared  to  lay  down  or  to 
expose  that  life,  as  well  as  when  I  ought  to  preserve  it; 
and  I  trust  I  shall  be  always  ready  to  do  my  duty,  and 
not  to  be  drawn  from  its  performance,  by  the  unmeaning 
taunts  of  persons  who  have  no  opinion  of  their  own,  but 
are  led  by  the  caprice  of  others."  To  a  request  of  the 
officer's  that  he  should  forget  what  had  occurred,  his  reply 
was,  that  he  had  never  borne  any  ill-will  to  those'  who 
had  ill-treated  him;  and  that  during  the  period  of  his  stay 
there  was  no  probability  of  any  diminution  of  friendship, 
as  he  was  preparing  to  join  another  regiment,  into  which 
he  had  obtained  an  exchange,  and  the  officers  of  which 
held,  he  believed,  principles  congenial  to  his  own. 

This  might  bear  the  semblance  of  what  is  made  in 
romance,  but  let  it  be  remembered  that  those  books  are 
given  as  an  imitation  of  real  life,  and  the  testimony  from 
which  this  has  been  received  was  unexceptionable.  Proba- 
bly I  shall  not  go  too  far,  in  making  the  assertion,  that 
instances  of  such  magnanimity,  fortitude,  and  heroism  are 
more  frequent  than  we  are  supposed  to  believe.  Human 
nature,  thank  God !  is  not  so  universally  depraved  as  to 
debase  us  all,  and  there  are  to  be  found  this  day,  proba- 
bly, brave  generals  who  could  wipe  the  vile  phlegm  from 
their  brow,  and  tell  the  brainless  simpleton  that  caused  it, 


80  DUELLING. 

as  did  a  valiant  man  who  led  armies  to  victory :  "  Young 
man,  you  should  suffer  for  your  misdonduct,  if  I  could 
as  easily  wipe  your  blood  from  my  conscience,  as  I  can 
your  spittle  from  this  forehead."  Did  his  king  or  his  army 
respect  his  head  the  less  for  that  defilement?  Does  not 
his  name  stand  higher  in  your  estimation  than  if  he  had 
been  the  victor  in  a  hundred  duels?  But  you  will  answer 
me,  that  his  character  was  his  protection.  Yes,  my  friends, 
it  was,  and  so  will  it  be  the  protection  of  every  man  who 
prefers  the  discharge  of  his  duty  to  the  indulgence  of  his 
passion,  and  who  fears  God,  but  who  has  no  other  fear. 
Such  a  man  need  not  engage  in  a  combat  to  avoid  disgrace; 
the  cloud  of  erroneous  opinion  may  indeed  obscure  his 
disc,  but  it  will  be  transient,  and  the  restoration  of  his 
radiance  will  be  more  welcome. 

The  duel  for  the  protection  of  honor  might  be  considered 
that  to  which  I  ought  principally  if  not  exclusively  to 
have  paid  attention,  since  most  of  our  modern  combats  are, 
or  affect  to  be,  of  this  description ;  but  I  have  preferred 
leaving  it  to  the  last,  because  an  opportunity  has  been 
afforded  of  considering  in  the  previous  examination,  espe- 
cially of  the  trial  by  combat  to  avoid  disgrace,  many  prin- 
ciples which  will  bear  with  equal  force  upon  this  case. 
The  grand  distinction  between  this  and  the  others  is,  that 
this  appears  to  have  less  superstition  and.  more  of  what 
the  world  calls  spirit.  I  freely  concede  that  the  plea  in 
its  favor  is  more  specious,  and  the  delusion  which  sur- 
rounds it  is  stronger.  I  have,  therefore,  reserved  it  for 
the  purpose  of  being  more  fully  met  by  the  application  of 
the  general  principles  upon  which  all  duels  are  condemned. 
For  the  reprobation  of  each  kind,  special  names  were  ad- 
duced, which  in  each  case  bore  upon  the  peculiar  demerits 
of  the  particular  species,  nor  is  the  reprobation  of  this 
without  strong  and  powerful  special  arguments,  the  outline 
of  which,  only,  I  shall  mark;  and  for  the  cause  before 
assigned  they  must  lose  much  of  their  strength  in  my 
prudent  mode  of  using  them,  since  this  duel  is  peculiarly 


DUELLING.  81 

condemned  by  the  Gospel,  from  the  aid  of  which,  on  the 
present  occasion,  I  have  by  advice,  and  upon  consideration, 
almost  debarred  myself.  But  before  I  enter  upon  those 
special  grounds,  let  us  consider  the  general  topic  upon 
which  every  species  of  duelling  is  found  to  be  immoral 
and  unlawful. 

Man,  being  a  creature,  is  amenable  to  his  Creator ;  and 
it  is  immoral  in  him  to  violate  the  law  of  that  great  Self- 
Existent  to  whom  he  owes  the  homage  of  all  his  faculties 
and  the  most  perfect  obedience.  I  shall  assume,  as  granted, 
that  the  Almighty  has  made  known  to  man  His -canon  against 
self-destruction.  I  assume,  also,  that  an  isolated  •  human 
being,  however  unconnected  he  might  be  with  his  fellows, 
has  not,  morally  speaking,  from  the  Lord  of  life  and  death, 
the  power  of  putting  a  period  to  his  own  existence ;  but 
must  await  the  summons  of  his  Judge,  either  by  the  process 
of  His  general  laAV  or  by  some  special  message.  I  assume 
another  principle  as  equally  clear,  that  no  individual  has  a 
natural  right  to  take  away  the  life  of  his  fellow-man.  And 
here  a  question  arises,  the  examination  of  which  becomes 
extremely  important,  but  into  the  discussion  of  which  I 
shall  not  now  enter  at  any  length.  Whence  is  derived  the 
right  which  States  possess  to  punish  malefactors  by  death  ? 
"NY hence  the  right  to  slay  in  war,  and  whence  the  right  of 
individuals  to  slay  an  unjust  aggressor  ?  I  answer :  From 
Him  who  alone  has  the  power  to  make  the  grant;  from 
the  Creator.  Man  not  being,  therefore,  master  of  his  own 
life,  could  not  bestow  what  was  not  under  his  dominion,  he 
could  not  give  to  society,  nor  to  its  government,  nor  to  an 
individual,  a  title  which  did  not  exist  in  himself.  Where 
distinct  history  and  plain  reason  concur  in  exhibiting  facts 
to  us,  it  would  be  palpable  folly  on  our  part  to  resort  to 
speculation  and  conjecture,  to  seek  for  the  knowledge  taught 
to  us  by  this  better  mode.  It  is  a  fact  that  God  has  left 
to  society  the  power  or  the  right  of  regulating  its  various 
forms  of  civil  government  accommodated  to  its  various  cir- 
cumstances. But  upon  every  regular  government,  thus  created 


82  DUELLING. 

or  accepted  by  the  people,  He  bestows  the  powers  necessary 
for  the  well-being  of  society,  and  amongst  others  that  of 
punishing  malefactors  even  capitally,  that  of  repelling  enemies 
even  by  the  infliction  of  death,  and  of  carrying  war  for  just 
cause  into  their  territories ;  also,  in  cases  of  extreme  neces- 
sity, where  no  other  mode  of  preserving  his  own  safety  is- 
left  to  an  individual,  God  and  the  government  bestow  upon 
him  the  right  of  guarding  his  own  life  by  taking  that  of  an 
unjust  aggressor,  but  it  is  bestowed  only  in  that  extreme 
case,  and  under  the  double  responsibility  of  him  who  uses- 
it  to  the  tribunal  of  his  country  and  the  tribunal  of  his 
God.  The  evidence  in  support  of  these  facts  is  plain  and 
ample ;  but  it  is  one  of  our  misfortunes  that  we  too  often 
desert  the  solid  ground  of  fact  to  amuse  ourselves  in  a  spec- 
ulation which  we  miscall  philosophy. 

Governments  thus  vested  with  power  by  God  and  by  the 
people,  by  the  Creator  and  by  the  creature,  have  regulated 
the  great  principles  of  social  order  by  the  light  of  reason, 
perhaps  aided  by  the  revelation  of  Him  from  whom  reason 
emanates.  One  of  their  first  principles  is,  that  the  unsettled 
differences  of  individuals  shall  be  adjusted,  not  by  the 
passions  of  the  disputants  or  their  friends,  but  by  the  tri- 
bunals of  the  nation.  Were  the  power  of  inflicting  death 
for  offences  taken  from  the  impartial  tribunals  and  vested 
in  the  interested  individuals,  what  a  scene  of  desolation 
would  this  world  of  ours  present !  How  would  injury 
excite  revenge,  and  revenge  produce  retaliation !  The  sweet 
charities  of  life  would  be  driven  from  our  solace,  and  ruffian 
violence  would  stalk  forth  crushing  as  he  proceeded  in  his 
horrid  triumph.  Where  should  we  find  the  abode  of  virtue, 
the  asylum  of  innocence,  the  safeguard  of  youth,  or  the  pro- 
tection of  age?  Is  the  duellist  to  be  their,  bulwark?  Or 
shall  the  unblushing  transgressor  of  the  first  principle  of 
social  order  presume  to  offer  his  offensive  and  unholy  aid  to 
sustain  the  sanctions  of  that  law  whose  very  sanctity  he  has 
disregarded?  He  has  hurled  down  the  judge,  profaned  the 
bench,  insulted  the  legislature,  usurped  the  high  prerogative 


DUELLING.  83 

of  heaven,  and  stood  in  open  conflict  with  the  Eternal ;  and 
this  unprincipled  man,  with  honor  on  his  lips  and  trans- 
gression in  his  acts,  dares  to  say  that  in  the  indulgence  of 
the  malignant  spirit  of  his  revenge  is  to  be  found  the 
salvation  of  good  order!  No!  If  we  were  to  reduce  this 
principle  to  practice,  every  man  would  stand  armed  against 
his  brother,  and  in  one  century  the  generation  of  Adam 
would  be  extinguished  by  the  fall  of  the  last  murderer  upon 
the  decaying  limbs  of  his  last  victim,  whilst  the  good  angels 
would  look  down  with  horror  and  pity  upon  that  spot  over 
which  demons  exulted.  The  providence  of  heaven,  to  pre- 
vent this  evil,  has  decreed  that  in  the  wildest  horde  which 
roves  through  our  forests  there  should  exist  some  semblance 
of  a  tribunal  by  which  human  life  is  saved  from  the 
malignity  of  human  passion. 

Man,  then,  has  not  power  over  his  own  life.  Society  does 
not  derive  from  individuals  its  power  of  taking  away  life. 
Although  no  injury  should  result  to  others  from  the  death 
of  an  isolated  man ;  still  he  will  be  himself  a  criminal  if  he 
procures  it;  nor  has  he  a  right  to  concede  to  another  what 
is  not  permitted  to  himself,  much  less  is  he  justified  in 
depriving  another  human  being  of  life ;  neither  can  he  plead 
that  he  did  it  with  the  consent  of  him  whom  he  slew.  Such 
consent  is  a  mockery ;  it  is  a  grant  of  what  could  not  be 
given ;  it  is  the  assumption  of  what  could  not  be  taken ;  it 
is  an  immoral,  an  irreligious  usurpation  of  the  prerogative 
of  the  Deity,  who  is  the  sole  arbiter  of  life  and  death.  What 
then  shall  we  say  of  those  who  add  to  this  crime  the  horrors 
of  multiplied  injustice  and  the  laceration  of  feelings ;  who 
inflict  protracted  and  unutterable  agony  upon  an  innocent 
and  impoverished  family?  Unfortunate  delinquent!  do  you 
not  see  by  how  many  links  your  victim  was  bound  to  a 
multitude  of  others?  Does  his  vain  and  idle  resignation 
of  his  title  to  life  absolve  you  from  the  enormous  claims 
which  society  has  upon  you  for  his  services,  his  family  for 
that  support  of  which  you  have  robbed  them,  without  your 
own  enrichment ;  his  tottering  parents  for  their  consolation, 


DUELLING. 

perhaps  for  the  supply  of  their  wants,  and  the  helpless  and 
indigent  for  that  bread  by  which  he  sustained  them?  Who 
will  give  professions  to  his  sons,  who  will  cherish  and  protect 
his  daughters?  Was  it  honorable  to  plot  in  secret,  and  to 
perpetrate  by  stealth,  the  foul  deed  which  has  torn  with  so 
rude  a  shock  the  aifections  of  the  wife  of  Ids  bosom  and 
children  of  his  heart  ?  Go  stand  over  that  body ;  call  back 
that  soul  which  you  have  driven  from  its  tenement ;  take 
up  that  hand  which  your  pride  refused  to  touch  not  one 
hour  ago.  You  have  in  your  pride  and  wrath  usurped  one 
prerogative  of  God.  You  have  inflicted  death.  At  least,  in 
mercy,  attempt  the  exercise  of  another;  breathe  into  those 
distended  nostrils,  let  your  brother  be  once  more  a  living 
soul.  Merciful  Father,  how  powerless  are  we  for  good,  but 
how  mighty  for  evil.  Wretched  man !  he  does  not  answer ; 
he  cannot  rise.  All  your  efforts  to  make  him  breathe  are 
vain ;  his  soul  is  already  in  the  presence  of  your  common 
Creator ;  like  the  \vretched  Cain  will  you  answer  to  the 
inquiring  voice,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  Why  do 
you  turn  away  from  the  contemplation  of  your  own  honor- 
able work?  Yes,  go  as  far  as  you  will,  still  the  admonition 
will  ring  in  your  ears,  it  was  by  your  hand  he  fell ;  the 
horrid  instrument  of  death  is  still  in  that  hand,  and  the 
stain  of  blood  upon  your  soul.  Fly,  if  you  will,  go  to  that 
house  which  you  have  filled  with  desolation.  It  is  the  shriek 
of  his  widow,  they  are  the  cries  of  his  orphans,  there  are 
the  broken  sobs  of  his  parent,  and  amidst  the  wailing  of 
his  family  you  distinctly  hear  the  voice  of  imprecation  on 
your  own  guilty  head.  Will  your  honorable  feeling  be 
content  with  this  ?  Have  you  now  had  abundant  and  gen- 
tlemanly satisfaction  ?  Or  have  you,  too,  received  your 
death-wound,  and  what  must  be  the  agony  which  you  endure 
at  beholding  now,  forlorn,  destitute,  and  overwhelmed,  her 
to  whom  you  swore  protection,  fidelity,  love ;  who  is  to 
watch  over  those  lovely  babes  from  whom  you  turn  your 
aching  eye.  Oil !  what  must  be  the  feeling  when  a  father 
cannot  look  with  complacence  upon  his  child !  You  love 


DUELLING.  85 

them ; — indeed  you  do,  and  all  the  affection  of  a  parent 
rushes  in  accelerating  fever  through  your  frame  and  sustains 
life  a  little  longer.  But  it  throbs  at  your  sinking  heart 
and  bewilders  your  tortured  soul ;  the  agonies  of  one  world 
and  the  horrors  of  another  surround  your  bed  of  death, 
whilst  the  unsatisfied  ghost  of  your  opponent  hovers  above, 
shrieking  the  dismal  summons  to  the  bar  of  an  insulted  God. 
My  friends,  I  paint  no  imaginary  scene ;  but  I  shall  not 
detain  you  in  the  chamber  of  horrors ;  let  us  depart  from 
it  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  that  honor,  the  mistakes 
concerning  which  produce  such  lamentable  effects. 

Honor  is  the  acquisition  and  preservation  of  the  dignity 
of  our  nature ;  that  dignity  consists  in  its  perfection ;  that 
perfection  is  found  in  observing  the  laws  of  our  Creator ; 
the  laws  of  the  Creator  are  the  dictates  of  reason  and  of 
religion ;  that  is,  the  observance  of  what  He  teaches  us  by 
the  natural  light  of  our  own  minds,  .  and  by  the  special 
revelation  of  His  will  manifestly  given.  They  both  concur 
in  teaching  us,  that  individuals  have  not  the  dominion  of 
their  own  lives,  otherwise  no  suicide  would  be.  a  criminal. 
They  concur  in  teaching  us  that  we  ought  to  be  amenable 
to  the  laws  of  the  society  of  which  we  are  members,  other- 
wise morality  and  honor  would  be  consistent  with  the 
violation  of  law  and  the  disturbance  of  the  social  system. 
They  teach  us  that  society  cannot  continue  to  exist,  where 
the  public  tribunals  arc  despised  or  undervalued,  and  the 
redress  of  injuries  withdrawn  from  the  calm  regulation  of 
public  justice,  for  the  purpose  of  being  committed  to  the 
caprice  of  private  passion  and  the  execution  of  individual 
ill-will.  Therefore,  the  man  of  honor  abides  by  the  law 
of  God,  reveres  the  statutes  of  his  country,  and  is  respect- 
ful and  amenable  to  its  authorities.  Such,  my  frienc7s,  is 
what  the  reflecting  portion  of  mankind  has  always  thought 
upon  the  subject  of  •  honor.  This  was  the  honor  of  the 
Greek — this  was  the  honor  of  the  Roman — this  the  honor 
of  the  Jew — this  the  honor  of  the  Gentile — this,  too,  was 
the  honor  of  the  Christian,  until  the  superstition  and  bar- 


86  DUELLING. 

barity     cf    Northern     devastators    darkened     his     glory     and 
degraded    his    character. 

Is  not  the  pride  of  the  American  the  predominance  of 
the  law  ?  Is  not  law  itself  the  emanation  of  the  public 
will,  and  is  not  submission  to  the  public  will  the  first 
principle  of  genuine  republicanism?  Are  our  governments 
so  weak  or  so  corrupt  as  to  be  unable  to  protect  us,  so 
that  we  must  be  thrown  upon  our  individual  and  private 
resources,  instead  of  looking  to  the  power  of  the  social 
compact  and  the  guardianship  of  the  social  head?  Shall 
we  proclaim  to  the  world,  that  we  in  South  Carolina  are 
brought  back  to  such  a  state  of  dereliction  that  our  public 
tribunals,  the  institutions  of  the  country,  the  government 
itself  cannot  protect  us  from  insult,  and  that  we  are  thus 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  trusting  to  ourselves?  Let  not 
such  a  libel  be  handed  over  to  the  defaming  press  of 
Europe  by  an  ungrateful  progeny;  let  it  not  be  said  that 
none  are  safe  from  insult  in  republics,  except  they  have 
been  well  trained  to  the  use  of  the  pistol  or  the  rifle, 
or  the  dexterity  of  gouging !  Are  those  the  emblems  of 
honor?  But  why  place  the  ruffian  who  plucks  out  your 
eye  upon  the  same  level  with  the  gentleman  who  uses  a 
pistol  ?  I  acknowledge  my  error ;  I  ought  not ;  because  the 
one  deprives  you  of  life,  and  perhaps  of  heaven,  whilst  the 
other  only  leaves  you  sightless.  Still,  though  the  injury  is 
greater,  the  barbarity  is  not  equal ;  there  is  more  refinement 
in  one  than  in  the  other,  but  there  is  also  more  criminality; 
there  is  more  apparent  delicacy  in  the  mode  of  violating  the 
law,  but  the  substantial  violation  is  more  enormous ;  the  crim- 
inal, in  the  one  case,  has  fashionable  fellow  culprits — in  the 
other,  he  has  the  more  recent  impulse  of  strong  passion. 
It  is  not  for  us  to  strike  the  ratio  of  their  culpability ; 
their  Judge  and  ours — He  who  has  forbidden  murder,  and 
also  declared  that  whosoever  would  call  his  brother  "  thou 
fool,"  should  be  guilty  of  hell  fire,  will  apportion  their 
destiny.  My  present  inquiry  regards  only  the  honor  of  the 
transaction,  and  I  can  measure  out  to  the  duellist  merely 


DUELLING.  87 

us  much  of  that  excellent  quality  as  is  consistent  with  the 
violation  of  his  duty  as  a  rational  being,  as  a  religious 
being,  as  a  member  of  society,  and  as  the  citizen  of  a 
State  whose  laws  describe  the  offence  as  a  felony.  Patriot- 
ism, social  order,  religion,  and  reason,  then,  forbid  me  to 
designate  as  honorable  this  bad  practice,  which  criminal 
fashion  has  too  frequently  promoted  and  encouraged.  Being 
therefore  evil  in  its  own  nature,  it  cannot  be  a  proper 
jnode  for  the  protection  of  honor. 

My  friends,  in  what  does  this  protection  of  honor  con- 
sist? Ii)  affording  to  its  assailant  the  opportunity  of  destroy- 
ing your  life,  certainly  at  the  risk  of  his  own.  What 
would  you  think  of  the  wisdom  and  equity  of  that  judge 
who  should  sentence  a  peaceable  citizen,  that  had  been 
assaulted,  to  suffer  the  same  punishment  as  his  convicted 
assailant?  If  you  challenge  the  aggressor  to  fight,  do  you 
not  inflict,  upon  your  innocent  and  injured  self,  the  same 
punishment  as  upon  the  offender?  Admirable  wisdom!  But 
why  do  I  seek  for  any  semblance  of  reason,  in  what  its  own 
advocates  avow  to  be  defenceless,  upon  the  principles  of 
reason?  They  only  attempt  its  palliation  upon  the  plea  of 
expediency.  They  tell  us  that  the  dread  of  the  pistol  pre- 
serves the  decorum  of  society.  Are  we  so  fallen  or 
<lebased  as  this?  A  vile  fear  is  then  the  motive  of  gen- 
tlemanly conduct!  Hear  this,  Carolinians!  I  will  not  under- 
take an  elaborate  defence ;  adopted  into  your  family,  I  see 
your  faults,  and  I  know  your  virtues :  my  own  conscience 
and  your  candor  will  acquit  me  of  flattery,  when  I  pro- 
nounce the  charge  which  this  excuse  would  insinuate  to  be 
groundless.  Your  politeness  has  not  been  produced  by 
pistol-discipline ;  nor  would  you  speedily  degenerate  from 
Avhat  has  been  the  characteristic  of  your  fathers,  were  you 
bound  to  avoid  this  bad  practice,  by  if  possible  stronger 
ties  than  those  which  the  State,  sound  reason,  and  pure 
religion  have  imposed  upon  you.  Shall  it  be  again  repeated 
that  the  good  order,  the  dignity  of  our  Southern  society,  is 
to  be  preserved  in  any  measure  by  the  pistol?  No.  If 


88  DUELLING. 

we  may  pay  attention  to  occurrences,  we  must  perceive  that 
too  often  the  intruder  upon  the  polite  circle  is  he  who  has 
made  himself  most  formidable  as  a  duellist,  and  that  he 
whose  deportment  is  most  correct,  is  he  who  proclaims  that 
he  will  not  enter  into  such  a  combat.  I  need  not  inform 
a  Charleston  auditory  that  natural  good  qualities,  improved 
by  education  and  by  opportunity,  and  not  the  terrors  of 
ammunition,  fashion  the  conduct  of  a  gentleman ;  and  that 
respectable  society  is  fully  able,  without  violation  of  the 
.laws  of  God  or  of  the  State,  or  outraging  the  principles 
of  reason,  to  banish  from  its  circle,  and  frown  down  to  his 
proper  place,  the  individual  who  would  violate  its  decorum. 
Again,  it  said,  that  there  are  injuries  for  which  the  laws 
neither  do  nor  can  provide  redress,  and  to  avenge  which 
is  the  only  mode  that  has  been  ever  known  or  devised.  I 
admit  that  there  are  injuries  for  which  no  compensation  can 
be  made  to  the  suiferer,  and  for  which  the  weakness  of 
nature  and  the  violence  of  passion  prompt  us  to  seek  the 
most  desperate  revenge ;  but,  waiving  every  other  answer, 
I  ask,  is  it  reasonable  or  religious  for  the  injured  man  to 
expose  himself  to  destruction  ?  I  am  told  that,  in  such  a 
case,  I  should  speak  of  neither  reason  nor  religion ;  that 
the  feelings  of  honor  only  must  be  attended  to.  When  the 
two  great  lights  of  our  nature  have  been  cast  away,  and  a 
desperate  mortal  surrenders  himself  to  the  guidance  of  a 
blind  spirit  of  revenge,  which  he  miscalls  honor,  it  is  as 
useless  to  urge  argument,  as  it  would  be  to  discuss  the 
principles  of  his  derangement  with  a  maniac;  as  hopeless 
to  rely  upon  entirely,  as  it  would  be  to  soothe  the  famished 
tiger  from  his  bleeding  feast.  There  is,  indeed,  one  mighty 
Being,  who  alone  could,  in  such  a  moment,  effect  a  miracu- 
lous change,  and  by  His  power  subdue  the  rage  of  passion 
to  that  resignation  which  brings  peace  from  heaven,  and 
demands  the  homage  of  respectful  sympathy  from  earth. 
But,  though  it  be  not  in  man's  power  to  change  the  heart 
of  man,  still  power  is  frequently  given  to  him  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  his  brother  to  destruction.  Thus,  at  least,  the 


DUELLING.  SO 

first  fury  of  his  passion  will  subside ;  reflection,  remonstrance, 
entreaty,  and  explanation  will  proceed,  and  God  would 
perhaps  crown  the  work  by  diffusing  His  light  around,  and 
speaking  powerfully  to  the  soul.  He  at  whose  word  the 
winds  are  still,  the  sea  is  calm,  and  the  perilled  mariner 
is  safe,  might  assuage  the  tempest  of  the  mind,  allay  the 
madness  of  desperation,  and  save  two  fathers  to  their  familiest 
two  citizens  to  the  State,  and  two  souls  from  perdition. 
Such,,  gentlemen  of  the  Anti-Duelling  Association,  is  one  of 
the  principal  objects  of  our  society  to  volunteer  our  services 
in  aid  of  the  law  of  God  and  of  our  country;  to  restrain 
not  by  any  arbitrary  assumption  of  authority,  but  by  the 
arm  of  the  law,  the  unfortunate  victim  of  a  delusive  passion, 
whilst  he  labors  under  its  influence. 

But  this  restraint,  it  is  said,  will  lead  to  assassination ; 
and  who  does  not  shudder  at  the  idea  of  such  a  result? 
Is  not  duelling,  however  condemnable  in  itself,  preferable 
to  assassination?  For  one,  though  I  were  to  stand  alone 
in  making  the  assertion,  I  deliberately  say,  No.  They  are 
both  evils;  if  we  are  driven  to  a  preference  the  lesser  should 
be  accepted.  Generally  speaking,  the  assassin  is  a  greater 
criminal  than  the  duellist,  but  duelling  is  a  greater  evil  to 
society.  That  which  is  less  destructive  is  less  evil;  that 
which  excites  more  detestation  will  be  more  seldom  engaged 
in  and  more  speedily  suppressed;  it  will  therefore  produce 
less  mischief.  Such  is  assassination.  The  assassin  is  not 
received  into  society;  he  who  has  slain  his  adversary  in 
a  duel  too  frequently  is.  The  more  delicate  sex  generally 
shrink  from  the  former ;  shall  I  charge  them  with  abetting 
the  crime  by  encouraging,  or  at  least  not  disapproving  of, 
the  conduct  of  the  latter?  I  shall  not  sit  in  judgment 
upon  them ;  let  them  answer  for  themselves.  How  many 
persons  generally  perish  by  the  hand  of  the  assassin  through- 
out the  world,  in  the  lapse  of  a  century !  Very  probably 
a  greater  number  has  fallen  in  duels  in  France  alone  in 
less  than  twenty  years,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  IV. 
Not  only  would  the  loss  of  life  be  incalculably  less,  but 


90  DUELLING. 

the  moral  sentiment  of  detesting  murder  would  be  better 
preserved.  There  is  nothing  more  destructive  to  public 
virtue  that  to  strip  vice  of  its  deformity.  Since  we  have 
entered  upon  the  distinguishing  comparison,  we  may  con- 
clude that  the  saving  of  human  life  would  be  great,  the 
horror  of  slaughter  would  be  stronger,  the  punishment  of 
oulprits  more  certain  and  effectual,  and  the  correct  moral 
principles  of  society  would  be  better  preserved.  It  is  upon 
those  grounds  that  I  stated  my  opinion  that,  in  a  public 
point  of  view,  duelling  is  not  preferable  to  assassination. 
There  is  besides  another  very  material  difference,  that  in 
the  one  case  there  are  at  least  four  guilty  persons,  both 
the  principals  and  seconds,  whilst  the  other  crime  is  gen- 
erally perpetrated  by  an  individual.  There  is  little  danger 
of  having  the  great  principles  of  morality  sapped  by  the 
crime  and  punishment  of  such  a  culprit  as  Beauchamp ; 
but  if  the  same  bad  passion,  which  was  condemned  in  his 
act  of  assassination,  had  procured  its  vent  with  the  same 
result  to  his  miserable  victim  in  a  duel,  instead  of  expia- 
ting the  murder  upon  a  gallows,  the  wretched  Beauchamp 
would  have  been  thoughtlessly  received  into  several  socie- 
ties as  a  meritorious  man  of  undoubted  valor. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Anti-Duelling  Association,  it  has  been 
said  that  our  society  has  done  mischief,  since  no  period  has 
been  more  marked  in  this  city  for  quarrels  than  that  year 
which  has  witnessed  our  union.  Of  course  it  is  assumed  that 
since  they  have  occurred  at  this  time  they  must  have  been 
produced  by  the  formation  of  our  body.  I  am  not  prepared 
to  admit  the  fact ;  and  even  if  admitted,  the  semblance  of 
its  reasoning  is  but  a  common  sophism,  for  coexistence  does 
not  necessarily  involve  connection.  But  suppose  them  to 
have  been  so  caused,  it  is  but  one  of  those  temporary  incon- 
veniences which  is  always  looked  for  upon  any  change.  You 
•can  say  better  than  I  can  whether  the  charge  itself  is  true; 
my  impression  is  against  its  correctness.  The  year  just 
elapsed  lias  presented  in  this  city  a  novel  feature,  to  the 
examination  of  which,  and  of  everything  connected  therewith, 


DUELLING.  91 

unusual  attention  was  paid,  and  occurrences  which  at  other 
times  would  have  been  unnoticed  or  disregarded,  became  not 
only  matters  of  observation,  but  of  remark  and  of  some 
ephemeral  importance ;  the  very  character  of  the  transaction 
lias  done  much  to  promote  our  object.  But  that  novelty  has 
now  passed  away;  and  surely,  in  our  mixed  state  of  good 
and  evil,  we  ought  not,  because  of  a  few  inconveniences, 
desist  from  making  every  exertion  to  attain  the  paramount 
good  of  establishing  a  general  conviction,  that  true  honor  is 
incompatible  with  the  indulgence  of  passion,  the  injury  of 
public  morals  subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
society,  'and  opposed  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  to  the  per- 
vading maxims  of  the  good  and  the  wise  of  every  civilized 
nation  in  every  age  of  the  world,  and  to  the  eternal  will  of 
the  most  high  God.  Let  us  then  continue  our  efforts  to 
subdue  by  the  arm  of  the  law,  which  is  and  which  ought  to 
be  every  American's  beloved  protector,  the  temporary  mad- 
ness to  which,  owing  to  the  imperfection  of  our  nature  and 
the  violence  of  passion,  the  best  amongst  us  might  sometimes 
be  liable ;  and  to  declare  to  our  fellow-citizens  that  we  look 
upon  true  honor  to  be  the  accurate  fulfillment  of  the  laws 
of  God  and  of  the  State,  and  that  its  highest  grade  is  to 
be  found  in  him  who  sacrifices  his  passions  upon  the  altar 
of  his  duty.  Thus  shall  we,  at  least,  save  our  consciences 
from  reproach  and  our  names  from  inconsistency.  Let  us 
be  moderate  but  firm ;  and  as  we  claim  over  our  fellow - 
citizens  no  precedence  in  virtue,  in  understanding,  or  in 
power,  we  shall  not  pretend  to  any  exemption  from  the 
common  frailties  of  our  nature,  to  any  right  of  dictation,  or 
to  any  color  of  office,  whilst  we  use  that  power  which  they 
and  we  possess  in  common,  to  proclaim  our  sentiments  freely, 
and  to  co-operate  in  the  execution  of  that  code  which  but 
expresses  the  will  of  that  State  to  which  we  owe  allegiance 
and  the  behests  of  that  God  to  whom  we  owe  perfect 
homage. 

On  former  occasions,  the  presence  of  ladies   at  the  tourna- 
ment  excited   all   the   ardor    of   those   who    sought    distinction 


92  DUELLING. 

in  the  lists ;  notwithstanding  the  edicts,  the  censures,  and 
the  denunciations  of  religion  and  the  law,  the  radiance  of 
beauty  flung  its  halo  around  the  field.  If.  the  troubadour 
sought  to  inspirit  the  youthful  warrior,  the  smile  of  some 
damsel  was  the  reward  which  he  promised  as  the  rich 
requital  of  his  bold  achievement.  Thus,  too  often  has  the 
influence  of  the  more  virtuous  sex  been  turned  to  hurtful 
or  to  unprofitable  account.  May  we  not  hope  for  powerful 
aid  from  the  daughters  of  Carolina  in  the  cause  of  virtue 
and  of  honor?  In  the  day  of  trial,  then,  mothers  were  found 
faithful  to  their  country  and  its  rights ;  they  encouraged 
their  husbands,  their  brothers,  and  their  sons  to  exhibit 
their  prowess,  not  in  disgraceful  domestic  feuds,  but  in 
deeds  of  valor  for  the  defence  of  their  homes  and  the  vin- 
dication of  their  freedom;  they  were  proud  to  see  them 
marshalled  under  the  command  of  Washington,  who  was 
too  intrepid  to  accept  a  challenge.  Did  they  fall  in  the 
field  of  true  honor,  those  women  gave  tears  to  nature,  and 
affection  to  the  memory  of  those  whose  blood  became  the 
cement  of  that  Union  in  which  was  found  safety  to  their 
friends  and  glory  to  their  nation.  Daughters  of  such 
mothers !  are  our  arguments  founded  upon  true  principles 
and  glaring  facts  ?  Are  you  satisfied  that  the  practice  of 
duelling  is  one  of  the  worst  remnants  of  pagan  barbarity? 
Do  you  believe  it  to  be  unnecessary  for  preserving  the 
refinement  of  our  Southern  society?  Then  be  you  our  lead- 
ers in  the  sacred  effort  to  identify  laAV  and  honor,  reason 
and  the  deportment  of  the  gentleman,  and  to  establish  a 
wide  distinction  between  the  assertion  of  dignity  and  the 
indulgence  of  passion. 


CLASSICAL   EDUCATION.1 


THAT  learning  is  useful  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting 
civilized  society,  has  been  so  frequently  repeated,  and  so 
generally  and  unhesitatingly  received  as  a  maxim,  that  no 
one  would  be  found  to  question  its  truth.  But  probably  one 
of  the  greatest  evils  which  accompanies  the  spontaneous 
assent  to  evident  propositions  is,  that  being  generally  couched 
in  universal  terms,  their  expression  becomes  ambiguous;  and 
whilst  words  are  preserved,  ideas  may  be  lost.  Would 
it  not  then  be  desirable  sometimes  to  revert  to  those 
maxims  in  order  to  fix  their  meaning  by  elucidating  their 
phraseology? 

Literature  has  usually  been  considered  under  a  twofold 
aspect:  speculative  and  practical;  whilst  the  former  merely 
regards  abstract  truth,  the  latter  applies  it  to  our  concerns. 
I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  there  exists  much  less  of 
merely  speculative  learning  than  is  generally  supposed,  and 
that  wrhat  frequently  receives  this  appellation  is  but  the 
appropriate  basis  upon  which  is  raised  the  great  super- 
structure of  that  which  is  practical.  If  I  be  correct  in  this 
view,  it  will  greatly  narrow  the  inquiry  which  I  propose  to 
make.  Allow  me,  therefore,  to  illustrate  by  example  rather 
than  to  establish  by  theory  what  will,  I  trust,  justify  me  in 
assuming  this  position. 

The  demonstrations  of  mathematics  and  the  calculations 
of  algebra  would,  by  several  persons,  be  instantly  denom- 
inated speculative;  and  even  some  might  be  found  who 
would  call  their  study  idle :  but  abandon  them,  and  see 

1  An  address    delivered  May  9,   1832,  before   the  Literary  and   Philosophical 
Society  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  occasion  of  its  Anniversary. 

(03) 


94  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

how  much  practical  knowledge  you  destroy.  The  surveyor, 
the  engineer,  the  architect,  the  ship-builder,  and  many 
others,  will  immediately  experience  the  most  sensible  checks 
in  their  several  pursuits.  The  observations  of  the  heavens, 
the  calculation  of  the  paths  of  the  planets,  of  the  distances- 
of  the  stars,  their  magnitude,  relation,  and  position,  would 
seem  to  have  little  influence  upon  the  ordinary  avocations 
of  busy  life ;  it  might  specially  be  supposed  that  they  have 
no  connection  whatever  with  mercantile  transactions ;  yet  it 
is  clear  that  the  science  of  navigation  depends  chiefly  upon 
astronomy,  and  the  interchange  of  commodities  is  carried  on 
through  navigation ;  and  thus  much  of  the  profit  derived  by 
the  modern  active  merchant  from  the  facilities  of  our  age 
has  been  remotely  created  by  the  researches  of  some  secluded, 
contemplative  sage  whose  bones  have  mouldered  in  former 
centuries,  either  in  Chaldea  or  in  Egypt.  How  well  may 
we  compare  the  results  of  learning  to  the  action  of  the 
human  frame.  We  can  seldom  detect  the  original  source, 
and  we  are  altogether  ignorant  of  the  principle  of  motion  -f 
so  the  great  bulk  of  men  observe  clearly  the  continued 
effects  of  causes  which  to  them  are  totally  unknown.  Place 
the  rude  canoe  and  a  steam  frigate  side  by  side ;  erect  the 
wigwam  upon  the  area  of  the  capitol ;  bring  the  accom- 
plished surgeon  or  the  reflecting  physician  to  the  desolate 
child  of  the  forest,  who  lies  mangled  or  gasping  near  the 
uncouth  weapon  of  the  chase ;  send  a  competent  master  on 
board  of  that  vessel  to  bring  joy  and  safety  to  an  exhausted 
crew  who,  since  the  loss  of  their  leader,  have  been  worn 
down  by  exertion  and  fatigue,  sailing  in  a  variety  of  direc- 
tions, unable  to  make  any  harbor  and  totally  ignorant  as  to 
whither  they  have  been  driven.  In  all  these  cases  the  utility 
of  practical  learning  will  be  admitted ;  but  in  most  of  those 
instances  the  knowledge  which  confers  the  unquestioned 
benefit  is  evidently  founded  upon  what  many  persons  have 
designated  abstract  or  speculative  science.  But  I  will  go 
farther  and  will  not  hesitate  to  say  that  in  nearly  all  the 
ordinary  concerns  of  life  this  science  produces  the  most 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  *>•> 

beneficial  effects,  without  vainly  exhibiting  its  agency;  whilst 
we,  who  have  lived  only  in  polished  or  civilized  society, 
view  those  very  effects  as  the  results  of  unaided  nature ; 
just  as  those  Eastern  beings,  who  have  never  gone  beyond 
the  precincts  of  their  own  palaces  and  gardens,  and  upon 
whose  presence  even  the  cultivator  or  the  artist  must  not 
intrude,  can  form  no  idea  of  what  aspect  the  uncultivated 
mountains  would  present;  nor  of  the  labor  and  industry 
that  have  been  expended  to  produce  those  scenes  with  which 
they  have  always  been  familiar,  and  which  they  regard  as- 
being  natural. 

It  might  be  then  inquired  whether  there  exists  any  merely 
speculative  science,  that  is,  any  which  is  not  applicable  to 
the  common  purposes  of  life.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
there  does  not.  My  conclusion  is  founded  upon  a  view  of 
particulars,  and  in  this  view  I  think  that  I  embrace  all 
necessary  to  make  the  enumeration  perfect.  Let  us  chiefly 
take  up  what  arc  usually  designated  as  the  learned 
professions. 

Law  should  be  considered  under  its  twofold  aspect,  leg- 
islation, or  the  creation  of  appropriate  rules  of  conduct,, 
together  with  their  sanction ;  and  judgment,  or  the  applica- 
tion of  those  laws,  as  well  by  the  enforcement  of  the  rule 
as  by  the  punishment  of  the  offender.  Here  life,  liberty, 
property,  public  peace,  private  security,  and  a  great  variety 
of  the  principal  concerns  of  man  in  his  earthly  career  are 
deeply  and  perpetually  implicated.  Besides  that  severe 
mental  discipline  and  habitual  restraint  which  arise  from 
a  good  education  and  a  regular  exercise  of  the  superior 
faculties,  a  nice  power  of  discrimination,  extensive  acquaint- 
ance with  ancient  legal  enactments  of  the  several  civilized 
nations,  the  circumstances  which  called  them  into  existence, 
their  mode  of  operation,  the  knowledge  of  how  far  they 
proved  remedial  or  useful,  by  what  means  they  degenerated 
or  became  injurious,  perverted,  or  abused,  will  be  at  least 
highly  desirable ;  to  which  should  be  added,  familiarity  with 
their  history,  as  also  the  intimate  observation  of  the  actual 


96  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

.state  of  society,  and  generally  of  the  human  character.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  here  there  is  much  of  what  is  usually 
called  practical  rather  than  speculative  science.  But  to  con- 
verse beneficially  with  the  ancient  legislators  and  moralists, 
we  must  speak  their  language.  It  is  true,  that  an  interpreter 
might  be  employed;  but  which  of  us  would  feel  himself 
justified,  under  the  pretext  of  having  a  translator,  and  saving 
more  time  to  study  facts  in  preference  to  words,  by  neglect- 
ing the  study  of  those  languages  which  had  during  centuries 
been  used  in  the  republic  of  letters,  to  restrict  his  intercourse 
with  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  the  civilized  world? 
But  if  we  give  the  principle  to  which  I  here  allude  its  full 
play,  we  shall  not  have  left  to  us  even  the  interpreter 
himself;  since  if  the  acquisition  of  languages  be  a  waste 
of  time,  no  person  should  be  encouraged  to  extravagance. 
Whatever  my  respect  might  be  for  gentlemen  who  think 
differently,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  ancient  languages  is  required  for  the  study  of  ancient 
documents  and  of  ancient  history,  and  that  such  learning  is 
far  from  being  unnecessary  for  an  accomplished  legislator. 
It  is  to  him  the  experience  of  several  ages. 

It  is  not  unfrequently  urged  against  this  position  that  we 
have  seen  in  these  republics  many  instances  of  great  men 
who  have  well  discharged  their  duty  without  these  aids.  I 
•do  not  question  the  truth  of  the  assertion ;  but  my  inference 
would  be  that  they  would  have  done  better  had  they  been 
.so  aided.  It  is  added  that  men  of  this  description  have,  in 
some  instances,  outstripped  those  of  classical  attainments.  I 
would  only  reply,  that  with  the  help  of  those  attainments, 
.they  would  have  gone  farther.  I  am  equally  far  from  sup- 
posing that  what  is  useful  is  all-sufficient,  as  I  am  from 
imagining  that  every  rule  is  without  an  exception,  or  that  a 
prodigy  is  an  ordinary  production.  As  well  might  it  be 
argued,  that  the  improvements  which  produce  speed  and 
comfort  in  our  packets  are  useless,  because  our  rivers  and 
our  seas  were  passed  before  their  introduction.  I  have 
arrived  then  at  the  conclusion,  that  for  the  legislator  the 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  57 

perusal  of  ancient  documents  is  extremely  valuable;  and 
that  as  they  can  be  best  understood  in  their  original  phrase- 
ology, the  study  of  the  languages  in  which  they  are  written 
is  not,  for  him,  a  mere  speculative  engagement,  but  a  useful 
portion  of  practical  literature. 

The  judicial  application  of  the  law  requires  all  the  critical 
qualifications  of  the  legislator  in  a  more  perfect  degree, 
because,  for  this  purpose,  the  object  and  meaning  of  the 
statute  or  custom  must  be  perfectly  comprehended :  not 
only  must  its  principles  be  appreciated,  but  the  fair  excep- 
tions should  be  known  with  equal  accuracy  as  the  rule  itself: 
the  judge  should  be  familiar  with  the  great  maxims  of 
evidence,  by  whose  aid  facts  will  be  clearly  developed  and 
placed  in  their  proper  and  precise  station,  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  how  far  they  come  under  the  operation  of  the 
enactment.  Xor  can  the  jurist  who  is  to  arrange  and  bring 
his  case  under  the  observation  of  the  court  be  less  able  to 
make  that  disposition  of  his  materials  without  serious  injury 
to  the  client,  who,  relying  upon  his  capacity,  has  placed  his 
interests  in  his  hands.  How  much,  then,  of  what  is  thought- 
lessly called  speculative  learning,  is  of  absolute  practical 
necessity  to  the  sages  of  the  bench  and  the  members  of  the 
bar?  He  who  will  make  ancient  language  and  ancient 
history  his  study,  and  will  look  patiently  to  their  mutual 
aid  for  their  mutual  explanation,  will  discover  treasures  of 
ancient  lore,  which  the  half-informed  pronounce,  hastily,  to 
be  barbarism,  because  in  a  different  state  of  society  from  that 
to  which  we  are  accustomed  they  aptly  provided  for  the 
public  weal,  by  remedies  which  would  be  equally  unsuited 
to  our  circumstances  as  our  regulations  would  be  inappli- 
cable to  the  customs  of  that  age.  Their  laws  and  ours,  like 
tho  coin  of  different  nations,  bear  different  devices  and  unlike 
inscriptions,  but  each  is  plate  or  bullion ;  and  he  who  pos- 
se, scs  both  is  richer  than  is  the  one  who  in  fastidious  self- 
sufficiency  flings  either  away.  Certainly,  he  who  could  acquire 
coin  of  only  one  description  would  act  prudently  in  prefer- 
ring that  which  is  current  where  he  sojourns :  and  if  the 

7 


98  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

contracted  mind  or  the  curtailed  opportunities  of  a  profes- 
sional man  compelled  him  to  be  satisfied  with  only  an 
alternative,  the  language  which  is  now  used,  and  the  laws 
now  in  force,  demand  his  preference ;  but  if  his  leisure  and 
opportunities  will  allow  him  to  extend  his  studies,  the  added 
wealth  of  ancient  times  will  better  qualify  him  for  enacting, 
for  expounding,  and  for  applying  the  provisions  of  the  law 
to  the  circumstances  by  which  he  is  surrounded. 

Let  us  view  the  requisite  qualifications  for  a  useful  member 
of  the  medical  faculty,  or  for  an  accomplished  and  scientific 
surgeon.  Besides  that  power  of  acute  perception  with  which, 
as  a  kind  of  instinct,  a  man  might  be  specially  gifted,  so  as 
almost  intuitively  to  detect  the  seat,  the  nature,  and  the 
extent  of  a  disease,  it  is  highly  desirable  that  the  mind 
should  have  been  so  disciplined  as  to  avoid  the  hasty 
conclusions  to  which*  an  overweening  and  too  confident  self- 
sufficiency  would  rush.  The  general  and  usual  diagnostics 
are  greatly  modified  by  the  habits  of  the  individual,  by  the 
influence  of  climate,  by  the  period  of  life,  by  the  previous 
treatment,  and  by  a  number  of  other  peculiarities  which  vary 
to  an  indefinite  extent.  If  the  truth  of  the  admonition, 
festina  lente,  can  be  more  usefully  practical  in  any  one  case 
than  another,  it  is  here.  Genius,  decision,  and  action  quick 
as  thought  can  often  do  much  for  life  and  health ;  but, 
unfortunately,  they  may  also,  by  one  mistake,  fix  the  irrevo- 
cable doom  of  the  patient.  It  is  not  by  the  knowledge  of 
the  names  of  diseases  and  of  their  usual  stages ;  it  is  not  by 
the  repetition  of  the  vocabulary  of  a  dispensary,  and  an 
acquaintance  with  some  of  the  chief  properties  of  drugs ; 
it  is  not  from  the  hasty,  wanton  mangling  of  a  decaying 
subject,  and  possessing  a  general  notion  of  the  uses  of  bones, 
muscles,  and  vessels,  that  correct  and  useful  medical  skill 
is  acquired.  No;  it  is  by  the  laborious  investigation  of  a 
clear,  calm,  and  cautious  mind.  No  reading  can  supply  the 
want  of  judgment,  but  no  power  of  judgment  Avill  avail 
much  without  facts  upon  which  its  decisions  may  be  formed. 
An  original  and  distinct  perception  united  to  deliberate 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  99 

reflection  and  steady  habit  of  observation  form  the  best 
foundation  for  useful  healing  knowledge;  and  every  mode, 
by  which  these  faculties  can  be  improved,  is  an  important 
branch  of  previous  education. 

I  would  here  ask  whether,  generally  speaking,  the  mind 
is  prepared  to  receive  the  seeds  of  science  by  what  is  usually 
known  as  ordinary  school  discipline.  I  know  not  much  the 
opinion  of  others,  but  I  have  formed  my  own.  I  would 
unhesitatingly  say,  No !  And  my  impression  is  that  it 
would  be  just  as  reasonable  for  the  planter  to  expect  a 
superior  crop  from  an  unprepared  soil  as  it  would  be  to 
look  for  medical  or  surgical  proficiency  from  the  attendance 
upon  lectures  by  a  half-educated  youth,  let  his  abilities  be 
what  they  may.  Whoever,  either  from  his  own  experience 
or  the  testimony  of  others,  is  acquainted  with  the  progress 
of  knowledge  amongst  students,  must  at  once  concede  that 
even  the  best-prepared  tyro  in  science  will  lose  at  the  com- 
mencement far  more  than  is  usually  supposed,  from  the 
mere  inability  of  an  untrained  mind  to  comprehend  the 
views  or  to  keep  pace  with  the  strides  of  an  experienced 
proficient.  "We  are  the  creatures  of  individual  habit;  no 
speculative  observation  will  supply  the  place  of  training ;  it 
will  certainly  do  much  to  improve  the  observer;  but  it  will 
never,  even  in  a  moderately  remote  degree,  be  equally  bene- 
ficial. It  is  true,  you  may  sometimes  meet  with  apparent 
exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  I  apprehend,  that  upon  examina- 
tion they  will  not  be  found  such  in  reality.  As  there  are 
men  of  great  natural  strength  of  body,  of  well-regulated 
courage  and  extraordinary  agility,  who  will  always  be  an 
overmatch  for  the  best-trained  individuals  of  puny  frame  and 
nervous  debility;  so  in  the  literary  world,  there  are  those  to 
whom  God  has  given  great  mental  energy,  but  to  which 
power  man  has  added  little  cultivation ;  such  persons  will 
always  surpass  these  others,  upon  whom  great  human  labor 
has  been  comparatively  lost,  because  the  Creator  has  with- 
held the  necessary  share  of  capacity.  I  need  not,  with  you, 
dwell  upon  the  impropriety  of  raising  a  sophism  upon  this 


100  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

fact.  I  believe  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  they  whom 
this  delusion  could  influence  are  not  of  the  race  of  intel- 
lectual giants.  Yet,  in  a  community  like  ours,  where  there 
exists  a  general  ambition  to  obtain  the  honors  and  emolu- 
ments of  the  learned  professions  in  the  shortest  possible 
time,  with  the  least  possible  expenditure,  and  only  that 
quantity  of  exertion  which  will  barely  suffice,  there  must 
always  be  a  disposition  to  dispense,  as  far  as  possible,  with 
extensive  preparatory  education.  When  we  add  to  this,  that 
self-love  which,  in  every  individual,  creates  partiality  and 
great  esteem  for  l\imself,  and  for  all  his  connections ;  and 
take  into  account  a  propensity  to  draw  conclusions  rather 
from  possibilities  and  the  imaginary  fitness  of  things,  than 
from  observation  and  fact, — we  need  not  be  surprised  at  the 
prevalent  disposition  to  dispense  with  altogether,  or  greatly 
to  curtail,  those  preliminary  modes  of  mental  exercise  which 
discipline  the  understanding  and  regulate  the  judgment ; 
we  need  not  be  astonished,  that,  by  several  persons,  the 
information  which  I  would  call  practically  useful  will  be 
denominated  speculative.  Under  this  head,  I  would  class 
especially,  mathematical,  arithmetical,  and  metaphysical  rea- 
soning. The  mind,  thus  prepared,  will  be  more  powerful, 
more  attentive,  more  patient,  more  discriminating,  and  more 
expert.  The  attendance  upon  a  single  course  of  scientific 
lectures,  by  a  person  thus  prepared,  will  generally  be  far 
more  beneficial  than  the  same  course  thrice  attended  by 
the  same  person,  without  this  previous  exercise. 

Medicine  is  a  more  extensive  school  than  that  of  law. 
Every  observation  which  I  have  made  regarding  the  utility 
of  the  dead  languages  to  the  lawyer,  will  apply  with  at  least 
equal  force  in  this  school.  It  is  in  those  languages  that  one 
will  best  converse  with  the  great  fathers  of  the  science ;  it 
is  in  those  peculiar  idioms,  of  which  no  translation  can 
convey  the  spirit  which  yet  dwells  in  the  original,  that  the 
very  soul  of  the  master  is  discovered.  The  structure  and 
organization  of  the  human  frame  is  everywhere  the  same ; 
and  the  science  of  healing  its  diseases  is  one  of  universal 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  101 

interest.  Wherever  the  victim  of  the  original  malediction 
is  found,  whether  at  the  equator  or  near  the  pole,  in  China, 
in  California,  upon  the  Mississippi,  the  Ganges,  the  Danube, 
or  the  Nile;  in  the  monarch's  palace,  or  in  the  Arab's  tent; 
whether  he  discourses  in  the  halls  of  the  academy  or  encoun- 
ters the  lion  or  the  panther  in  the  recesses  of  the  forest,  or 
under  the  open  canopy  of  heaven ;  whatever  be  the  tinge 
of  his  complexion,  or  the  quality  and  form  of  his  vesture 
he  is  equally  a  child  of  Adam,  and  not  only  bone  of  his 
bone,  and  flesh  of  his  flesh,  but  moreover  liable  to  all  those 
disorders  which  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  The  necessity  of 
studying  and  remedying  or  alleviating  those  disorders  is, 
and  has  always  been,  and  will  always  continue  to  be,  a 
universal  and  an  important  concern.  The  subject  of  those 
disorders  being,  then,  everywhere  the  same,  and  the  attention 
of  so  many  persons  of  various  nations  and  ages  having  been 
given  to  the  improvement  of  the  science  of  healing,  nothing 
can  be  more  beneficial,  or  desirable,  or  proper,  than  that 
the  good  meu  so  employed  should  possess  the  faculty  of 
communicating,  with  ease  and  precision,  to  their  brethren 
throughout  the  world,  the  useful  discoveries  which  they 
make ;  and  thus  rapidly  give  to  each  individual  of  the 
fraternity  the  benefit  derived  from  the  experience  of  the 
whole  body.  This  can  only  be  continued,  as  it  has  hereto- 
fore been  effected,  by  the  preservation  of  a  common  language, 
the  meaning  of  whose  terms  is  not  liable  to  change,  and 
which  is  more  or  less  prevalent  throughout  the  regions  of 
science  and  civilization,  all  over  the  universe.  In  this  view, 
I  fearlessly  assert,  that  an  accurate  and  extensive  knowledge 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  so  far  from  being 
speculative  or  unnecessary  literature,  is  essential  for  the 
preservation  and  perfection  of  medical  knowledge  and  surgery. 
Allow  me  to  add  one  other  observation.  The  names  of 
drugs,  of  Chemical,  mineral,  and  botanical  productions,  of 
which  such  extensive  use  is  made,  are,  I  may  say,  altogether 
in  those  languages,  and  certainly  the  vernacular  appellations 
of  substances  in  one  region  would  be  unintelligible  in 


102  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

another ;  and  whosoever  would  profit  by  foreign  research, 
or  turn  the  discovery  of  another  to  account,  must  be  at  least 
acquainted  with  the  tongue  in  which  he  speaks.  The  acqui- 
sition by  all,  then,  of  a  few  common  languages,  so  far  from 
being  a  useless  waste  of  time  and  labor,  is  to  the  physician 
the  saving  of  both ;  because  it  relieves  him  from  the  neces- 
sity of ,  acquiring  several  new  dialects,  that  he  may  converse 
with  men  of  science ;  or,  in  case  of  neglect,  he  cannot  profit 
by  their  labors,  he  must  have  his  knowledge  greatly  abridged, 
he  must  be  dependent  upon  his  own  experience  and  that 
of  the  comparatively  small  number  by  whom  he  is  sur- 
rounded. In  fact,  the  want  of  such  a  medium  of  scientific 
intercourse  would  be  equivalent  to  a  professional  exclusion 
of  each  nation  from  the  remainder  of  the  universe.  And 
what  would  now  add  to  this  evil,  is  the  fact  that  the  present 
nomenclature  is,  to  those  who  are  critically  acquainted  with 
the  languages,  an  extremely  well-regulated  mode  of  instantly 
and  exactly  bringing  several  useful  and  important  facts, 
regarding  the  nature  of  diseases  and  remedies,  before  the 
mind,  with  the  lightest  possible  tax  upon  the  memory. 
Thus,  to  the  physician,  the  labor  of  a  few  years  in  child- 
hood is,  in  fact,  the  economy  of  a  large  portion  of  his  after 
life,  and  the  greatest  aid  to  his  accuracy  in  practice.  For 
him.  a  large  portion  of  what  is  hastily  called  speculation  is 
the  basis  of  truly  practical  knowledge. 

My  own  peculiar  situation,  as  well  as  the  state  of  our 
religious  society,  preclude  details  regarding  the  science  of 
theology.  I  shall  merely  observe  that  nearly  all  the  prin- 
ciples that  have  been  applied  respecting  the  two  professions 
which  I  have  reviewed,  are  equally  of  force  here.  I  shall 
make  but  a  single  statement  regarding  that  science  in  the 
Church  to  which  I  belong;  and  in  doing  so,  I  would  not 
be  understood  to  insinuate  any  contrast  to  any  other  society, 
but  merely  to  testify  a  fact  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining 
the  conclusion  which  I  am  anxious  to  support  In  our 
view,  the  science  of  theology  docs  not,  in  the  whole  system 
of  revealed  religion,  recognize  a  single  speculative  opinion, 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  103 

but  views  the  entire  as  a  collection  of  facts,  whose  truth  is 
to  be  ascertained  by  the  most  strict  application  of  the 
ordinary  rules  of  evidence.  Supposing  them  to  have  been 
thus  demonstrated,  it  considers  every  one  of  them  to  have 
an  important  bearing,  not  only  upon  the  moral  conduct  of 
man  in  this  transitory  world,  but  upon  his  happiness  or 
misery  in  that  which  is  eternal.  Thus  we  assume  that  in 
what  is  called  speculative  or  dogmatical  theology  there  does 
not  exisist  one  merely  speculative  opinion.  The  Church 
itself  is  considered  as  a  numerous  society,  whose  discipline 
is  law,  one  portion  of  which  is  a  constitution  that  is  con- 
sidered permanent  and  unchangeable,  another  portion  consists 
of  statutes  enacted  by  the  universal  legislature  for  the 
universal  body,  or  by  the  local  authorities  for  their  particular 
districts.  The  enactment,  repeal,  amendment,  and  application 
of  those  laws  must  be  governed  by  the  same  principles  that 
regulate  all  other  descriptions  of  correct  legislation  and  judg- 
ment. However,  upon  this  topic  I  do  not  wish  to  proceed 
farther,  nor  indeed  is  it  necessary  for  my  present  purpose ; 
I  only  desired  to  show  that  in  each  of  the  learned  professions 
the  usual  classical  education  was  an  exceedingly  useful 
preparation  for  the  professional  study  itself;  and  I  believe 
that  I  have  made  a  sufficiently  extensive  enumeration,  with 
observations  calculated  to  show  that,  in  preparing  for  the 
learned  professions  at  least,  what  is  too  generally  pronounced 
to  be  speculative  literature  is  but  the  proper  foundation  for 
that  which  is  truly  practical. 

I  do  not  undertake  to  defend  the  abuses  of  the  schools 
or  of  systems,  nor  to  deny  that  there  did  exist  a  very  injudi- 
cious mode  of  what  was  called  "sharpening  the  mind,"  by 
habituating  it  to  distinguish  when  there  existed  no  ground 
for  distinction ;  to  affect  doubt,  where  not  only  was  common 
sense  satisfied,  but  one  would  scarcely  find  room  to  thrust 
the  other  ingredients  of  a  syllogism  between  the  plain 
maxim  and  the  palpable  conclusion :  neither  will  I  make 
common  cause  with  those  superlatively  ingenious  disputants 
who  demanded,  for  maxims,  proof  beyond  the  universal 


104  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

testimony  of  common  sense;  and  who  would  set  up  the 
assumed  possibility  of  a  doubt  as  of  sufficient  weight  to- 
counterbalance  an  ascertained  fact.  It  is  true  that,  at  a 
former  period,  the  schools  of  Europe  trained  up  many  of 
their  students  in  an  excess  of  this  mode  of  exercise ;  it  is 
true  that  the  technical  phraseology  which  they  used  wa& 
harsh  and  barbarous.  But  it  is  equally  true,  though  perhaps 
it  is  unfashionable  to  make  the  statement,  that  many  of  the 
persons  who  in  those  days  had  to  contend  with  disadvantages, 
which  we  might  imperfectly  describe  but  can  never  feel, 
have  left  us  the  evidence  of  the  prowess  which  was  then  in 
existence.  This  is  not  the  place,  nor  this  the  occasion,  to 
say  how  many  of  the  productions  of  those  times  Have 
perished,  like  the  glories  of  ancient  Egypt,  leaving  but  a 
few  heavy  pyramids  and  some  splendid  ruins  to  testify, 
amidst  the  lasting  desolation,  that  before  the  day  of  wreck 
there  was  an  age  of  genius. 

During  centuries,  the  way  to  the  temple  of  literature 
has  been  through  the  halls  of  the  ancients,  and  the  languages 
of  the  republic  of  science  have  been  .principally  the  Greek 
and  Roman;  especially  and  more  generally  the  latter.  They 
who  have  been  eminent  in  these  great  departments  of  knowl- 
edge, were  made  familiar  with  these  tongues  by  their  early 
and  assiduous  conversation  amongst  the  classic  authors. 
As  it  has  sometimes  happened  that  a  nation  has  been 
assailed  with  the  arms  furnished  from  her  own  arsenal,  so 
has  the  study  of  the  classics  been  chiefly,  and  most  for- 
midably and  adroitly,  decried  by  men  whose  minds  were 
amply  furnished  from  these  extensive  and  varied  stores. 
We  have  occasionally,  it  is  true,  beheld  some  gigantic 
warrior,  careless  of  discipline,  untutored  in  tactics,  and 
despising  evolutions,  rush  boldly  into  the  fight  and  spread 
destruction  and  terror  for  a  time ;  the  contusions  of  his 
uncouth  mace  gave  to  the  carcasses  of  his  victims  an 
appearance  even  more  horrid  than  that  of  death;  but  when 
the  first  emotions  subsided,  and  his  manner  was  observed, 
how  easily  was  he  overcome !  The  transient  success  which 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  105 

he  obtained  was  the  result  of  the  mighty  force,  with  which 
he  had  been  originally  gifted,  and  the  unusual  mode  in, 
which  he  made  his  assault;  but  had  he  added  to  his 
natural  prowess  the  advantages  of  discipline,  how  much 
more  formidable  would  he  have  been !  The  war-cry  of 
such  a  combatant  excited  attention ;  an  unusual  interest 
was  felt  on  his  behalf;  in  his  own  person,  he  for  a  time 
seemed  to  furnish  a  practical  illustration  of  the  soundness 
of  his  cause.  Yet,  I  would  ask,  to  what  are  we  to  attribute 
that  suggestion  which  is  continually  urging  the  observer 
to  make  considerable  allowance  in  favor  of  such  men  because 
of  their  want  of  regular  education,  if  it  be  not  a  universal 
concession  that  the  mind  thereby  prepared  is  made  therefore 
superior?  For  why  should  anything  be  conceded  because 
of  the  neglect  of  classical  education,  if  the  want  of  that 
disciplinary  course  be  not  a  manifest  disadvantage  ? 

The  principal  objection  of  those  who  would  discontinue 
the  study  of  the  ancient  classics  is  the  alleged  waste  of  time. 
They  thus  assume  the  very  point  at  issue  that  the  time  is 
wasted.  They  attempt  to  prove  the  waste  by  the  new 
assumption  that  no  advantage  is  derived  from  the  study. 
I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  the  advantages  were  very 
great  indeed.  Conceding  them  to  be  great,  they  assert 
that  the  time  and  the  means  consumed  are  beyond  .the 
value  of  the  acquisition.  To  sustain  this  position,  they 
assume  that,  during  the  whole  period  in  which  the  study 
of  those  authors  is  continued,  the  students  have  little  or 
no  other  occupation.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  fact.  This 
is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  details,  but  it  will  easily  be 
perceived  that  in  a  well-regulated  course,  though  the  classics 
appear  to  be  the  principal,  because  of  the  prominent  objects,, 
yet  there  are  a  multitude  of  others  which,  as  an  aggregate,, 
equal,  if  they  do  not  exceed,  the  quantity  that  occupies  the 
foreground.  It  is  stated  that  the  time  given  to  this  useless 
occupation  would  be  better  devoted  to  more  practical  studies, 
which  are  omitted  on  its  account.  I  apprehend  the  argument 
would  be  found  quite  defective  if  it  were  required  to  specify, 


106  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

on  one  side,  what  the  more  practical  omitted  studies  are ; 
and  then  the  occupations  of  a  judiciously  arranged  course 
•of  education  were  exhibited  in  contrast ;  for  not  only  would 
the  object  of  these  particular  studies  be  found  not  omitted, 
but  it  would  be  seen  that  their  perfect  attainment  was 
facilitated  by  the  very  means  which  were  said  to  impede 
their  acquisition.  .  • 

Objections  have  frequently  been  made  to  the  works  used 
in  the  acquirement  of  those  languages.  They  are  said  to 
be  calculated  to  pervert  the  judgment,  to  delude  and  corrupt 
the  imagination,  and  to  taint  the  heart ;  perhaps  I  would  be 
more  accurate  in  saying  that  the  allegation  is,  they  tend  to 
confirm  its  depravity.  Were  either  of  these  statements  sus- 
tained by  evidence,  I  trust  our  society  would  be  one  of  the 
last  to  encourage  the  destruction  of  the  mental  powers,  or 
to  ruin  the  eternal  prospects  of  the  children  of  Carolina ; 
and  if  the  classic  authors  usually  read  in  schools  were  fitted 
to  ends  so  mischievous,  we  would,  indeed,  be  criminal  in 
the  highest  degree  by  continuing  or  by  encouraging  their 
use.  But  let  us  not  too  hastily  decide. 

I  know  it  is  fashionable  to  decry  almost  the  whole  body 
of  those  men  whom  the  civilized  world,  during  ages,  has 
regarded  as  learned.  Men  who  have  never  read  a  page  of 
their  works  have  passed  judgment  upon  them;  persons  who 
<lo  not  understand  their  language  have  furnished  essays  upon 
their  demerits ;  they  who  know  nothing  of  either  the  pecu- 
liarities of  their  situation,  the  circumstances  of  the  nations 
in  which  they  lived,  the  genius  of  their  age,  or  the  objects 
they  had  in  view,  have  condemned  them.  For  some  it  was 
•convenient,  for  others  it  was  easy ;  where  the  bold  and  the 
reckless  lead  the  way,  and  some  of  the  leaders  are  distin- 
guished, it  becomes  as  facile  as  it  is  fashionable  for  the 
multitude  to  follow ;  and  he  who  hesitates  is  perhaps  under- 
valued. We  can  easily  observe  how  the  great  bulk  of 
mankind  is  led  along  in  fashion,  in  party,  in  taste,  in  politics, 
in  amusement.  Boldness,  perseverance,  zeal,  and  tact  in 
turning  favorable  circumstances  to  account,  will  generally 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  107 

insure  success.  Hence,  though  it  be  fashionable  amongst  a 
large  class  of  our  modern  writers  to  cast  obloquy  upon  the 
genius  and  acquirements  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  centuries, 
the  individual  who  addresses  you  must  be  permitted  to  say 
that  he  cannot  unite  in  the  vituperation.  His  own  vision 
may  be  imperfect,  or  it  may  be  that  he  mistakes  the 
phantoms  of  imagination  for  the  realities  of  life ;  and  if  it 
be  a  misfortune,  he  is  unfortunate  in  common  with  a  large 
portion  of  the  great  lights  of  our  latter  age ;  men  in  whose 
track  he  is  proud  to  follow  at  a  mighty  distance.  Though 
he  be  not  "habituated  to  swear  to  the  words  of  any  master," 
yet  he  pays  great  deference  to  the  united  judgment  of  the 
learned  men  of  every  age  and  every  nation  of  the  civilized 
Avorld;  and,  with  very  few  exceptions,  they  have,  by  their 
precepts  and  their  practice,  exhibited  the  classic  authors  of 
Greece  and  Rome  as  the  most  correct  models  upon  which 
to  form  the  judgment  of  the  literary  student.  To  the  mind's 
eye  of  him  who  stands  before  you,  these  witnesses  appear 
venerable  on  both  sides  of  the  Bosphorus ;  rising  up  in 
the  more  polished  parts  of  Asia,  upon  the  continent  and  in 
the  islands  of  Greece,  spread  along  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa,  as  also  through  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Spain,  during  some 
centuries.  It  is  true  that  the  brilliancy  of  this  scene  was, 
for  a  time,  overshadowed  by  the  clouds  of  the  tempestuous 
Korth  and  the  desolating  East.  But  as  the  atmosphere 
became  attenuated,  the  beams  of  knowledge  again  diffused 
their  cheering  influence.  Much  has  been  swept  away  by 
the  ruinous  flood ;  but  the  cultivation  became  more  widely 
extended,  many  of  the  former  regions  of  science  again  pro- 
duce their  flowers  and  their  fruits ;  Britain,  Germany,  and 
even  Scandinavia  herself  became  mellowed  and  fertile.  In 
all  those  places  the  classic  authors  have  been  principally 
used  for  the  direction  of  the  judgment  and  the  improvement 
of  the  taste ;  here,  too,  does  he  find  many  witnesses,  and 
their  succession  continues.  They  appear  also  respectable  and 
comparatively  numerous  at  our  side  of  the  Atlantic.  And 
though  the  speculative  mind  should  indulge  the  inquiry  as 


108  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

to  the  mode  in  which  they  aid  the  judgment  and  improve 
the  taste,  and  should  declare  itself  unsatisfied  with  the 
philosophy  of  the  explanation,  yet  the  fact  would  not  be 
the  less  obvious,  and  its  nearly  universal  admission  might 
be  reasonably  considered  as  good  evidence  as  that  which  we 
have  of  our  power  of  motion,  though  some  abstruse  inves- 
tigators might  be  disposed  to  question  the  existence  of  even 
this  too,  as  they  can  discover  neither  its  origin  nor  process. 
Will  not  the  architect  be  greatly  improved  by  the  study 
of  the  ancient  models?  Does  not  the  painter  eagerly  review 
the  productions  of  former  masters  ?  Would  the  works  of 
Phidias  or  of  Praxiteles  be  useless  to  the  sculptor?  It  is 
true,  he  might  employ  himself  beneficially  in  contemplating 
those  of  Canova,  of  Thorwaldsen,  and  of  Chantry :  but  why 
should  even  the  torsos  and  fragments  of  former  ages  be  cast 
away?  Will  the  jurist  make  no  useful  acquirement  by 
studying  the  disused  or  the  repealed  code,  or  the  obsolete 
pleadings  of  his  mighty  predecessors?  Though  he  should 
not  find  them  obviously  applicable  to  his  immediate  purposes, 
yet  will  they  expand  his  mind,  extend  his  views,  confirm 
his  knoAvledge  of  principles,  and  render  him  more  acute  in 
the  investigation  and  arrangement  of  his  facts.  Thus  will 
he  be  better  qualified  to  turn  to  useful  account  the  science 
that  bears  upon  the  very  business  in  which  he  is  engaged. 
The  study  of  these  ancient  authors  is  not  only  useful  to 
guide  the  judgment  and  to  correct  the  taste,  but  to  refine 
and  warm  some  of  our  best  affections.  When  the  cloak  of 
Cincinnatus  is  .  flung  upon  the  shoulders  of  Washington, 
the  coldness  of  even  affected  philosophy  will  thaw  in  the 
glow  of  that  current  which  diffuses  life  and  heat  and  ardor 
through  the  frame  of  the  patriot;  and  the  energy  of  his 
feeling  has  already  secured  in  action  that  result,  regarding 
whose  attainment  our  semblance  of  reasoning  would  be  only 
commencing  its  calculation.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  give  a 
demonstration  of  the  mode  in  which  the  ardor  is  excited, 
as  it  is  to  prove  that  excitement  itself  exists ;  neither  is  it 
so  perfectly  within  our  reach  to  determine  the  process  by 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  109 

which  our  faculties  are  improved  as  to  observe  and  to 
testify  the  improvement.  The  principle  upon  which  the 
human  mind  is  formed,  the  springs  of  action,  and  the 
workings  of  the  human  heart,  are  alike  impervious  to  human 
observation ;  perhaps  there  is  only  one  eye  in  the  universe 
by  which  they  are  clearly  discernible ;  and  hew  immense 
is  the  distance  between  its  strength  and  the  weakness  of 
ours  ?  Shall  we  then  deny  the  plain  results  of  the  experi- 
ence of  centuries,  because  we  cannot  perhaps  give  a  demon- 
stration from  principle  ?  To  my  view  this  would  not  be 
the  perfection  of  wisdom ;  the  larger  portion  of  the  little 
that  we  know  has  been  derived  from  the  observation  of 
facts ;  we  have  very  little,  indeed,  scarcely  any,  that  is  the 
mere  deduction  from  principle ;  and  though  I  have  the  full 
conviction  that  I  am  surrounded  by  my  friends,  still  I  am, 
as  yet,  altogether  a  stranger  to  the  principle  upon  which 
consciousness  accompanies  vision;  and  I  must  candidly  avow, 
that  it  is  not  by  the  aid  of  my  philosophy  I  have  become 
convinced  of  your  presence. 

The  experience  of  the  learned  world  has  testified  gener- 
ally in  favor  of  classical  education,  for  directing  the  judg- 
ment and  correcting  the  taste  in  composition,  as  well  as 
for  opening  vast  stores  of  useful  information  upon  several 
of  the  most  important  subjects  of  practical  science  and  his- 
torical details.  My  object  not  being  to  enter  at  large  upon 
the  vindication  of  the  opinions  which  I  communicate,  nor 
to  refute  at  length  those  from  which  I  dissent,  but  rather 
to  bring  the  topics  under  your  consideration,  and  to  sug- 
gest the  points  which  would  seem  to  demand  special  atten- 
tion, I  shall  not  enter  farther  upon  the  subject.  To  me, 
individually,  the  testimony  to  which  I  point  is  sufficient. 

But,  if  I  were  insensible  to  the  varied  beauties  of  Vir- 
gil, the  power  of  Demosthenes,  the  simplicity  of  Caesar,  the 
polish  of  Horace,  the  sublimity  of  Homer,  the  wit  of 
Lucian,  the  neatness  of  Epictetus,  and  the  perfection  of  so 
many  other  models  of  composition ;  if,  in  addition  to  all 
this,  I  held  in  no  estimation  men  whose  names  have  been 


110  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

rescued  by  admiring  multitudes,  in  every  age,  from  the 
grasp  of  death,  that  fame  should  preserve  them  burnished 
— if  the  structure  of  my  mind  differed  so  widely  from 
that  of  the  great  bulk  of  my  fellow-mortals — and  that, 
considering  my  own  judgment  and  my  own  feelings  the 
only  tribunal  by  which  I  should  be  guided,  I  should  find 
myself  alone  or  with  few  associates;  I  might  claim  indeed 
to  be  unmolested,  though  I  could  not  reasonably  expect  to 
have  that  which  was  esteemed  valuable  destroyed,  because 
of  the  singularity  of  my  notions.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
truth,  except  a  palpable  fact  or  a  manifest  principle,  which 
has  not  some  opponents ;  and  even  here,  perhaps,  I  would 
be  warranted  in  striking  out  the  exception,  for  Dagouner 
denied  that  there  existed  a  negative  proposition;  and  I 
have  known  an  ingenious  scholar  who  asserted  that  all 
mathematical  reasoning  was  fallacious,  because  it  flowed  from 
first  principles  that  were  absurd,  viz :  the  definitions  of  a 
point  of  a  line  and  of  a  superficies.  Hence,  the  dissent 
of  some  respectable  men  and  good  scholars,  united  to  the 
declaration  of  some  unlettered  though  vigorous-minded 
writers,  weighs,  I  believe,  but  lightly  against  the  general 
testimony  in  favor  of  the  benefits  conferred  by  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  select  writers  of  antiquity;  and  those 
which  remain  to  us  are  merely  a  selection  from  the  mighty 
mass,  of  which  the  vastly  greater  portion  has  perished. 
Should  I  be  asked  to  explain  philosophically  the  process 
by  which  the  beneficial  effect  is  produced,  I  will  avow 
that  it  is  as  far  beyond  my  power  to  undertake  the  specific 
exhibition,  as  it  would  be  to  demonstrate  the  special  and 
particular  process  by  which  I  was  nourished  and  strength- 
ened, and  my  powers  developed  by  the  food  which  I  con- 
sumed in  my  adolescence.  I  doubt  whether  any  of  our 
medical  friends  would  hazard  his  reputation  by  asserting 
that  he  could  satisfy  us  upon  the  subject;  or  that  the  most 
speculative  of  our  inquirers  would  abstain  from  food,  until 
no  doubt  remained  as  to  the  correctness  and  sufficiency  of 
the  demonstration. 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  HI 

Respecting  the  tendency  of  these  works  to  delude  and 
to  corrupt  the  imagination,  or  to  confirm  the  depravity  of 
the  heart,  I  would  beg  to  make  a  few  observations.  To 
the  individual  who  addresses  you,  it  has  caused  unmixed 
astonishment,  when  he  more  than  once  noticed  this  objec- 
tion seriously  urged,  upon  the  ground  of  their  tendency  to 
gloss  over  the  errors  of  polytheism  and  idolatry,  and  thereby 
to  diminish  the  esteem  in  which  we  should  hold  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation.  I  trust  that,  with  some  few  at  least,  I 
shall  find  credit  for  the  declaration,  that,  however  imperfect 
my  practice  may  be,  there  exists  not  an  individual  who 
holds  that  dispensation  in  more  high  esteem  than  I  do.  To 
me  it  is  everything.  I  value  not  the  wealth,  the  fame,  the 
science,  the  honors  of  the  world,  as  worthy  even  for  an 
instant  to  be  taken  into  competition  with  the  least  of  its 
appurtenances;  and  yet  from  my  keenest  scrutiny,  from  my 
most  jealous  examination,  this  danger  has  hitherto  escaped 
notice.  I  will  not  say,  that  others  might  not  have  made 
the  discovery :  if  they  have,  God  forbid  that  I  should  for 
a  moment  condemn  their  rejection  of  this  stumbling-block 
in  the  way  of  truth  and  life.  If  I  could  find  in  the 
annals  of  eighteen  centuries  a  single  act  of  apostasy  fairly 
attributable  to  this  cause,  I  might  hesitate.  But  I  find 
the  earliest  and  most  able  advocates  of  Christianity  gener- 
ally deducing  from  this  topic  the  very  opposite  conclusion; 
and,  in  several  instances,  their  victory  was  achieved,  and  the 
cause  of  religion  gained  glorious  accession,  by  the  judicious 
contrast.  I  am  under  the  impression  that  this  is  only  one 
of  those  exhibitions  in  which  there  is  evidenced  considera- 
ble dexterity  in  the  use  of  a  weapon  which  is  wielded 
only  for  exercise  or  amusement.  No,  my  friends,  I  can- 
not think  so  poorly  of  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  faith, 
as  not  to  feel  confident  that  their  polish  is  made  brighter, 
their  temper  better  proved,  and  their  points  better  sharp- 
ened, by  trying  them  against  the  defences  of  opponents. 
Do  forgive  me,  if  I  assure  you  that  I  am  tempted  to  con- 
sider the  man  'who  would  proclaim  danger  to  Christianity 


112  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION, 

from  the  perusal  of  the  classics,  "  would,"  to  use  the 
strong  expression  of  another,  "have  cried  fire  in  the  days 
of  the  deluge ! "  Did  I  suppose  that  any  one  seriously 
entertained  the  apprehension  I  might  seriously  undertake 
to  show  it  was  groundless. 

Their  immoral  tendency  is  the  next  ground  upon  which 
it  is  sought  to  sustain  the  objection.  If  the  accusation  be 
intended  to  apply  to  the  great  bulk  of  the  authors,  I 
apprehend  that  the  charge  can  by  no  means  be  sustained. 
The  works  may  be  ranked  in  two  divisions — into  various 
classes :  history,  orations,  harangues,  philosophical  disquisi- 
tions, literary  dissertations,  and  epistles  of  friendship.  These 
classes  form  an  exceedingly  large  proportion  of  the  whole. 
I  do  not  think  that  I  am  by  any  means  incorrect  in 
asserting,  that,  as  an  aggregate,  this  collection  is  as  free 
from  immoral  tendency  as  any  equal  bulk  of  the  most 
select  literary  compositions  of  the  present  day.  The  his- 
torian of  then  and  now  will  have  to  relate  instances  of 
gross  turpitude  and  crime,  but  surely  the  sacred  penman 
has  done  the  same ;  and,  generally  speaking,  the  great 
crimes  which  disgrace  our  nature  are  censured  as  fully  and 
as  freely  and  as  eloquently  by  the  ancient  classic  historian, 
as  they  are  by  the  modern.  If,  sometimes,  the  man  of 
yore  lauds  the  ambitious,  the  proud,  the  revengeful,  the 
unforgiving,  such  characters  are  praised  also  in  our  own 
day ;  the  maxims  of  the  Gospel  condemn  both  historians 
alike,  and  form  a  splendid  contrast  to  each,  showing  that, 
at  both  periods,  man  is  naturally  the  same;  and  that  his 
perfection  arises  not  from  the  progress  of  science,  the 
march  of  intellect,  the  accumulation  of  time,  and  the  wis- 
dom of  experience,  but  from  a  source  different  from  all 
these.  I  am  under  the  impression,  that  the  effusions  of 
Cicero  and  of  Demosthenes  might  be  as  safely  read  as 
any  forensic  effort  or  popular  harangue  of  the  last  year, 
within  our  own  States.  I  do  not  argue  for  the  perfection 
of  the  philosophy  taught  in  the  academy  or  in  the  palace ; 
but  I  admire  the  efforts  of  the  men,  whilst  I  admit  their 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  113 

mistakes,  and  would  correct  their  errors,  whilst  I  point 
them  out.  I  would  also,  where  allowable,  exhibit  the  sim- 
plicity and  purity  of  that  moral  code  bestowed  by  heaven, 
in  contrasting  it  with  the  doubts,  the  conjectures,  the  im- 
perfections, and  the  mistakes  of  those  merely  human  efforts 
which  at  once  exhibit  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of 
the  human  mind;  and  would  establish  their  moral  philos- 
ophy as  an  authentic  document,  to  prove  how  necessary  it 
was  that  man  should  learn  his  duties  immediately  from  the 
mouth  of  his  Creator.  In  the  other  compositions  contained 
in  this  division,  I  feel  confident  that  the  closest  scrutiny 
would  result  in  the  conviction,  that,  whilst  they  show  the 
unchanging  principles  of  literary  excellence  in  the  judicious 
precepts,  the  correct  observations,  and  the  pertinent  and 
apt  illustrations  which  they  contain,  they  are  as  thoroughly 
free  from  any  moral  poison  as  the  best  and  purest  similar 
productions  of  any  period  or  nation. 

Another  division  consists  of  works  of  fancy  and  taste ; 
principally  epic  and  lyric  poetry,  fables,  satires,  mytholog- 
ical allegories,  and  a  varied  miscellaneous  exhibition.  I  am 
free  to  acknowledge,  that  I  know  of  no  language  or  nation 
in  which  productions  of  this  description  have  not  their 
dangers,  and  are  not,  in  several  instances,  liable  to  serious 
objection.  However,  in  that  portion  of  the  ancient  classic 
authors  generally  read  in  the  schools,  the  selection  will,  I 
apprehend,  be  found  less  objectionable  than  what  is  every 
day  in  our  tongue  within  the  reach  of  every  schoolboy. 
In  the  epic  poetry,  particularly,  there  is  generally  not  only 
great  delicacy  of  expression  on  all  occasions,  but  there  are 
very  few  instances  where  either  by  description  or  allusion 
any  indelicacy  is  suggested ;  and  he  who  would  discover 
any  in  the  portions  of  these  works  usually  placed  in  the 
hands  of  children,  may,  without  injustice,  be  supposed  bet- 
ter fitted  for  the  search  than  not  only  youths,  but  than 
the  ordinary  class  of  adult  readers.  I  shall  give  no  opinion 
as  to  whether  so  exquisite  a  tact  for  such  discoveries  argues 
more  in  favor  of  the  vigor  of  the  understanding  or  the 


114  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

purity  of  the  imagination.  There  are  no  well-regulated 
schools  that  I  have  known  in  which  all  the  works  of  any 
author  are  read  through;  selections  have  been  made  from 
several;  and  the  true  question  is,  whether  the  portions  so 
chosen  are  of  a  mischievous  tendency.  I  shall  make  only 
two  assertions.  First,  that  a  superabundance  of  what  is 
admirable  in  literary  merit,  and  perfectly  innocuous  in  respect 
to  purity  of  morals,  can  be  taken  from  those  authors.  And, 
secondly,  that,  in  the  course  of  several  years  of  intimate 
acquaintance  with  many  schools,  I  have  never  known  a 
departure  from  the  principle  of  confining  the  pupils  to  the 
portions  so  selected.  I  might  add,  that  I  cannot,  after  con- 
siderable reflection,  charge  my  memory  with  an  instance  of 
moral  mischief  that  I  could  trace  to  this  system  of  edu- 
cation ;  and  perhaps  my  opportunities  of  observation  have 
been  less  restricted  than  those  of  most  of  my  acquaintance. 
That  objectionable  passages  might  be  found  in  other  parts 
of  the  same  work,  or  that  they  were  taught  in  other 
schools,  or  that  they  were  read  subsequently  by  the  pupils, 
is  no  answer  to  the  proposition  which  I  sustain;  for  I  do 
not  assert,  that  there  are  no  actual  or  possible  abuses ;  and 
if  I  am  to  abandon  every  useful  object  which  is  liable  to 
abuse,  the  residue,  which  I  may  lawfully  take  up,  will  be 
small  indeed ! 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  an  ingenious  mind  could 
not  get  up  an  admirable  dissertation  to  contravene  what  I 
advance.  I  only  make  a  simple  appeal  to  your  own  mem- 
ory and  to  your  own  judgment. 

The  care  in  selecting  from  the  lyric  poetry  should  be 
far  greater,  for  I  am  ready  to  admit  that  a  large  portion 
of  it,  in  Greek  and  Latin,  as  well  as  in  English,  is  of  a 
most  censurable  character;  but  I  have  never  known  this 
read  in  schools,  and  am  decidedly  hostile  to  its  introduc- 
tion. If  a  satire  be  a  less  perfect  mode  of  censuring  vice, 
yet  it  is  a  censure ;  and  though  there  exists  a  preferable 
course  of  correction,  it  does  not  follow  that  what  is  less 
good  is  absolute  evil,  and  therefore  unfit  to  be  perused, 


CLASSICAL  KDUCATWN 

though  not  under  all  circumstances  the  best  model  for 
imitation. 

The  principal  ground  on  which  the  more  numerous  body 
of  objections  have  sought  to  maintain  the  position,  that 
morality  was  injured  by  the  classics,  was  the  assumption 
that  the  very  essence  of  mythology  is  contaminating,  by  its 
exhibition  of  the  unbecoming  criminal  adventures  of  the 
principal  deities ;  whereby,  not  only  is  vice  made  respect- 
able, but  the  imagination  is  seriously  injured  by  filling  the 
memory  with  the  knowledge  of  these  demoralizing  transac- 
tions. This  topic  has,  unquestionably,  a  better  appearance 
of  force  than  most  of  the  others  which  I  have  considered; 
yet,  upon  examination,  it  will  be  found  of  little  value.  In 
such  recitals,  the  good  or  evil  is  produced  by  the  mode 
of  representation.  The  preacher  of  the  most  pure  morality 
is  frequently  employed  with  great  advantage  in  painting 
the  most  revolting  scenes  of  vice,  for  the  purpose  not  only 
of  holding  it  up  to  the  detestation  of  the  innocent,  but  to 
strike  the  very  profligate  themselves  with  horror  at  the 
view  of  their  own  likeness,  and  thus  bring  them  to  repent- 
ance ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  the  artful  and  eloquent 
destroyer  of  virtue  will  succeed  in  his  nefarious  projects, 
by  delicately  turned  allusions,  which  excite  the  most  dan- 
gerous passions,  without  the  employment  of  a  single  expres- 
sion of  a  revolting  character. 

Two  questions  would  here  present  themselves  for  solu- 
tion. The  first,  whether  all  knowledge  of  ancient  history 
is  to  be  withheld  from  future  generations.  The  second,  if 
that  knowledge  neither  can  nor  ought  to  be  extinguished, 
whether  it  can  be  preserved  without  an  acquaintance  with 
mythology.  I  apprehend  the  eifort  to  destroy  the  knowl- 
edge of  history  would  be  as  useless  as  it  would  be  unbe- 
coming; as  ridiculous  as  it  would  be  unjust.  And  I  would 
ask,  how  any  one  could  seriously  undertake  to  preserve  the 
history  of  nations,  whilst  he  suppressed  all  allusions  to 
their  religion ;  or  how  those  allusions  could  be  intelligible 
without  entering  upon  the  region  of  mythology?  If,  then, 


116  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

this  obliteration  of  knowledge  be  neither  practicable  nor 
desirable,  we  must,  -whether  we  will  or  not,  examine  how 
it  may  be  communicated,  not  only  with  safety,  but  with 
advantage.  The  best  things  are  liable  to  abuse,  and  it  has 
frequently  happened  that  what  was  most  sacred  has  been 
most  perverted.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  insinuate  that  an 
impure  mind  has  never  turned  to  vile  purposes  the  facts 
and  fictions  of  this  ancient  religious  delusion,  in  like  man- 
ner as  such  minds  have  in  an  impious  way  perverted  the 
most  awful  facts  and  useful  institutions  of  divine  truth. 
The  knowledge  of  mythology,  however,  is  generally,  if  not 
always,  communicated  to  students  in  such  a  way  that,  whilst 
it  enriches  the  understanding,  it  does  not  defile  the  heart; 
and  the  exhibition  of  its  folly,  when  held  in  contrast  with 
our  sublime  and  perfect  religious  system,  is  far  from  being 
a  mischievous  or  a  useless  lesson. 

The  good  Fenelon  did  not  confirm  the  depravity  of  his 
pupil's  heart,  either  when  he  showed  him  the  dangers  of 
the  Island  of  Calypso,  or  when  he  led  him  through  the 
very  temple  of  the  Cyprian  goddess.  It  is,  moreover,  im- 
possible to  have  an  adequate  knowledge  of  sacred  history, 
without  being  conversant  with  that  which  is  profane,  and 
it  is  out  of  all  question  that  a  person  can  be  master  of 
either,  without  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  mythology. 
Let  us,  then,  even  suppose  it  to  be  a  burning  furnace  into 
which  these  children  must  of  necessity  be  cast;  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  will  be  seen  walking  with  them  through  the 
very  flames ;  they  will  be  protected  by  his  influence.  The 
knowledge  might  be  conveyed  in  a  manner  that  would  be 
most  destructive ;  but,  the  fact  is,  that  such  is  not  the 
mode  in  which  it  is  communicated ;  therefore  did  I  state, 
that,  although  the  objection  had  a  semblance  of  force,  it 
would,  upon  examination,  be  found  of  little  value. 

It  has  frequently  been  urged  by  excellent  men,  and  from 
the  best  motives,  that  education  would  be  as  well  culti- 
vated by  substituting  the  sacred  volume  of  the  Scriptures 
for  these  dangerous  books ;  that  thus,  not  only  would  all 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  117 

apprehension  of  the  evils  be  removed,  but  an  immense  ben- 
efit be  conferred  by  the  great  knowledge  conveyed  to  the 
mind  upon  the  subject  of  our  holiest  obligations,  our  highest 
hopes,  the  great  Author  of  our  being,  the  glorious  Re- 
deemer of  our  race,  the  purest  morality,  the  most  perfect 
religion,  in  fact,  the  great  end  for  which  man  is  perma- 
nently destined.  It  has  been  stated  that  if  this  volume 
exclusively  would  not  suffice,  at  least  its  use  would  super- 
sede the  more  dangerous  books  now  in  the  schools ;  that, 
in  it,  the  highest  perfection  of  literature  is  contained,  that 
its  diversified  style  of  simple  narrative,  .historical  precision, 
ornamental  description,  pathetic  prayer,  sublime  oratory,  and 
impassioned  eloquence,  make  it  a  copious  and  never-failing 
repository  of  every  topic  of  improvement ;  and  that  its 
parables  and  poetry,  in  rich  and  varied  combinations  of 
glowing  fancy  and  elegant  expression,  are  surpassed  by  no 
human  production,  and  probably  equalled  by  none. 

Whilst  the  peculiarity  of  my  situation  admonishes  me  to 
touch  lightly,  if  at  all,  upon  this  topic,  and  the  prin- 
ciple which  we  have  always  desired  should  govern  our 
society  would  preclude  much  that,  under  other  circumstances, 
I  might  urge,  I  trust  that  one  or  two  observations  might 
be,  without  impropriety,  hazarded  in  your  presence. 

The  questions  wrould  present  themselves  to  us  in  the 
following  order :  First,  whether,  as  some  contended,  the 
Bible  should  be  made  in  our  schools  the  exclusive  text- 
book for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  what 
we  call  the  learned  languages.  My  previous  remarks  will 
easily  indicate  to  you  the  answer  that  I  should  give,  and 
in  addition  to  the  reasons  urged  before,  it  might  be  added, 
that  the  question  could  be  properly  resolved  into  these : — 
Whether,  if  it  were  even  possible  to  understand  the  con- 
tents of  this  volume,  without  previous  acquired  knowledge 
of  considerable  extent,  all  that  other  information  should  be 
withheld ;  whether,  because  religion  is  man's  paramount 
concern,  it  should  be  his  exclusive  occupation ;  and  whether, 
the  effort  to  bring  the  learned  world  to  this  state  would 


113  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

serve  the  cause  of  religion  itself  I  shall  leave  the  deter- 
mination of  this  to  your  own  unbiased  judgment. 

I  fully  assent  to  all  that  has  been  urged  in  favor  of 
the  divine  production,  though  I  am  not  bound  to  consider 
it  a  model  of  more  than  human  perfection ;  for  whilst  I 
believe  all  the  ideas  of  the  writers  to  have  been  regulated 
b.y  the  influence  of  the  sacred  Spirit,  I  am  at  liberty  to 
believe  that  the  style  in  which  those  ideas  were  commu- 
nicated, was  the  natural  expression  of  the  individual  whom 
heaven  had  used  as  its  instrument.  And  even  if  it  were 
otherwise,  I  apprehend  that  the  use  of  scriptural  phrase- 
ology, upon  the  ordinary  occasions  of  life,  is  not  considered 
the  evidence  of  religious  feeling.  So  that,  whilst  the  sacred 
volume  calls  for  the  pious  respect  of  the  good,  and  is, 
in  a  peculiar  range,  worthy  of  the  admiration  of  the 
learned,  it  is  not  the  archetype  for  the  literary  world,  nor 
a  model  for  the  compositions  of  business.  Hence,  invalu- 
able as  is  the  Bible,  for  the  purposes  of  religion,  I  do 
not  consider  that  it  was  given  for  other  ends,  and  I  can- 
not, therefore,  believe  that  it  would  be  useful  or  expedient 
to  make  it  a  substitute  for  the  classics. 

Another  question,  however,  presents  itself  for  considera- 
tion— Whether  the  volume  might  not  be  usefully  substituted 
for  those  which  are  most  dangerous  ?  I  would  correct  the 
assertion  implied  in  the  question  itself;  for  I  would  place 
no  dangerous  book  in  the  hands  of  the  pupil.  The  true 
question,  then,  would  be,  whether  the  Bible  should  not 
occupy  a  considerable  place  in  our  literary  institutions.  The 
answer  to  this  must  depend  upon  a  variety  of  circum- 
stances which  greatly  vary,  in  different  times  and  places, 
and,  therefore,  no  precise  general  answer  could  easily  be 
given.  The  great  object  of  those  who  advocate  its  intro- 
duction, it  will  always  be  found,  is,  by  its  means,  to  im- 
part religious  information.  The  great  difference  of  sects  in 
Christianity  arises  not  so  much  from  a  difference  as  to 
what  are  the  words  of  the  book  which  they  acknowledge 
contains  tho  law,  but  as  to  the  construction  which  will 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  119 

give  the  correct  meaning  of  the  great  legislator  to  whom 
they  profess  obedience.  If  there  exists  a  serious  difference 
between  them,  as  to  either  the  construction  of  the  law,  or 
the  existence,  or  the  nature,  or  the  authority  of  a  tribunal 
from  which  that  construction  is  to  be  received;  in  such 
a  case,  if  this  book  be  given  for  their  common  instruction, 
we  must  expect  that  the  .several  will  yield  to  one,  or  there 
will  be  jealousies,  disputes,  or  estrangement.  Experience  has 
taught  us  that  the  first  result  is  not  to  be  expected;  charity 
and  prudence  would  guard  against  the  second.  Thus,  unless 
all  parties  were  either  agreed  as  to  the  construction  of  the 
law,  or  the  tribunal  by  which  it  was  to  be  expounded,  I 
would  consider  its  introduction  into  a  school  of  different 
and  discordant  denominations  to  be  not  only  a  departure 
from  the  first  principle  which  the  volume  inculcates,  which 
is  that  of  charity,  but  also  an  impediment  to  the  progress 
of  literature,  inasmuch  as  it  would  distract  the  attention 
from  the  legitimate  objects  of  the  institution  to  sectarian 
contests.  I  cannot  avoid  viewing  the  question  as  more 
properly  one  of  religion  than  of  literature,  and  would  there- 
fore give  my  answer  upon  that  principle  by  which  I  have 
always  hitherto  been  guided.  Let  religious  instruction  be 
freely  and  fully  given,  at  the  earliest  period,  to  youth; 
but  never  permit  the  emissary  of  proselytism  to  assume  the 
garb  of  literature  as  a  disguise;  when  it  is  intended  that 
religion  should  be  taught,  let  it  be  called  by  its  own  name 
— when  it  is  proposed  to  communicate  merely  human  learn- 
ing, let  nothing  else  be  introduced.  If  there  be  no  insup- 
erable bar  to  a  union  in  receiving  religious  instruction  in 
common,  let  it  be  so  given ;  but  if,  unfortunately,  there 
should  be  an  irreconcilable  discrepancy,  let  not  that  evil 
be  increased,  by  superadding  those  of  jealousy  and  quarrels. 
Let  there,  in  such  a  case,  be  a  union  in  the  pursuit  of 
literature — let  there  be  a  separation,  for  the  purposes  of 
religious  instruction ;  and  in  communicating  this  latter,  no 
one  of  my  hearers  will  be  more  gratified  than  will  he 
who  addresses  them,  at  using  all  due  means  to  extend 


120  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

widely  the  most  perfect  knowledge  of  the  religion  of  the 
Bible.  But  when  he  surveys  the  actual  state  of  our  country, 
he  must  beg  leave  to  say,  that  he  cannot,  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  that  he  has  advanced,  arrive  at  the 
conclusion,  that  it  would  promote  the  cause  of  learning  to- 
make  the  book  itself  a  substitute  for  any  considerable  portion 
of  the  usual  class-books.  Though  he  cannot  hope  for  a  gen- 
eral acquiescence  in  his  views,  he  trusts  that,  in  freely 
expressing  his  convictions,  he  will  not  be  considered  as 
outstepping  the  proper  limits  of  his  subject,  or  intending 
unkindness  to  those  with  whom  he  might  have  the  mis- 
fortune to  differ. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  this  subject  of  classical  education  as 
one  appropriate  'to  the  literary  character  of  our  society,  not 
so  much  from  an  expectation  of  your  devoting  to  its  con- 
cerns any  particular  or  special  efforts,  but  considering  that, 
not  only  the  standing  of  the  individual  members,  but  the 
aggregate  influence  of  the  body,  might  produce  a  serious 
effect  upon  the  public  mind ;  and  if  the  topics  I  have 
urged  were  in  accordance  with  your  views,  they  might,  to 
a  certain  extent,  be  enforced  by  the  moral  power  that  you 
possess  in  that  community  to  which  we  belong;  and  thereby 
not  only  would  the  rising  generation  be  induced  to  make 
more  progress  in  this  field,  but  the  general  cause  of  lit- 
erature be  greatly  aided  by  your  own  example,  in  continu- 
ing to  cultivate  what,  though  long  since  sown  and  thriving, 
has,  perhaps,  been  only  seldom  examined,  and  but  lightly 
tended.  And  for  this  object,  an  excellent  opportunity  is 
afforded  by  those  literary  exercises  which  the  society  has 
lately  resumed. 

To  what  I  have  urged  on  this  head,  JL  shall  take  the 
liberty  of  adding  some  observations  upon  the  other  branch 
of  our  duties  as  a  society. 

Philosophy  is,  properly  speaking,  the  deduction  of  correct 
conclusions  from  evident  principles  and  ascertained  facts. 
In  order,  however,  to  proceed  safely  to  the  results,  the 
premises  must  be  secured,  and  the  mighty  evil  of  which 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  121 

we  have  to  complain,  is  the  great  facility  with  which  prob- 
abilism,  conjecture,  and  speculation  have  been  substituted 
for  principles  and  facts.  Thus  has  the  region  of  science 
been  thickly  sown  with  error,  and  rank  weeds  have  luxu- 
riantly abounded,  where  order,  and  beauty,  and  symmetry 
should  prevail.  It  is  with  reluctance  that  the  human  mind 
assents  to  the  evidence  of  its  own  ignorance,  and  even  when 
yielding  to  the  conviction,  its  vanity  urges  the  concealment 
from  others.  Hence,  the  ambition  of  man  is  not  so  much 
to  be  wise  and  learned,  as  to  be  thought  so.  We  are 
more  soothed,  even  when  conscious  of  our  defects,  by  the 
delusion  which  overestimates  our  acquirements,  than  we  are 
by  the  possession  of  that  knowledge  for  which  the  world 
refuses  us  credit.  Probably,  the  mortification,  in  the  latter 
case,  exceeds  the  gratification  in  the  former.  The  discovery 
of  fact,  and  the  establishment  of  its  evidence,  do  not  always- 
form  so  easy  a  process  as  is  generally  imagined.  Let  us 
consider  the  revolution  of  the  planets,  the  circulation  of 
the  blood,  the  attractive  power  of  the  magnet ;  not  to  speak 
of  a  vast  number  of  other  instances,  how  clearly  do  we 
now  perceive  facts  of  which  successive  generations  were  so 
totally  ignorant.  Let  us  contemplate  their  results.  Were  not 
several  of  those  results  themselves,  facts  very  obvious,  and 
always  observed,  for  which  we  can  now  easily  account ;: 
whose  causes,  whose  origin,  and  whose  nature  are  perfectly 
open  to  our  view?  Yet,  though  the  results  themselves  were 
always  ascertained,  their  origin  was  not  always  obvious,  their 
causes  were  not  always  known ;  even  whilst  the  fact  was  evi- 
dent, the  source  was  altogether  mistaken ;  but  now,  owing  to 
more  deep  research,  more  accurate  observation,  and  more 
fortunate  circumstances,  both  cause  and  effect  are  equally 
exposed  to  our  ken.  Let  us  learn  a  salutary  lesson  from 
the  history  of  our  predecessors.  In  their  day,  those  results 
were  known  to  be  facts,  but  their  origin  was  not  then 
discovered.  Still,  desirous  of  appearing  learned,  the  men 
of  that  day  undertook,  not  only  to  declare  what  they  saw, 
but,  moreover,  to  explain  the  causes  and  the  objects  of 


122  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

those  results ;  and  when  we  read  their  lucubrations,  how 
are  we  astonished  at  their  blunders !  How  do  we  decry 
their  ignorance,  and  affect  to  commiserate  their  blindness ! 
How  do  we  estimate  the  superiority  of  our  intellectual 
powers  above  theirs !  Yet  these  men  were  philosophers ; 
they  had  minds  formed  by  the  same  Almighty  who  made 
ours ;  they  were,  in  every  respect,  our  equals,  but  that 
we  have  the  knowledge  of  some  facts  of  which  they  were 
ignorant — facts  discovered  and  ascertained  principally  by  the 
men  intermediate  between  them  and  us.  They  endeavored, 
by  speculation,  to  supply  the  want  of  actual  knowledge, 
and  this  want  alone  constituted  their  inferiority.  They,  too, 
had  a  knowledge  of  facts  undiscovered  by  their  predecessors; 
and  smiled  at  the  ignorance  of  those  to  whom  they  were 
as  superior,  in  this  sort  of  information,  as  we  are  to  them. 
Are  we  not  destined  to  pay  to  posterity,  and,  perhaps,  with 
usurious  addition,  the  tribute  which  we  have  exacted  from 
those  at  whose  ignorance  we  sneer,  and  over  whom  we 
elevate  ourselves,  with  the  importance  of  our  imaginary  per-  J 
fection  ?  Alas !  my  friends,  need  I  describe  to  you  the 
feelings  which  overwhelm  us  at  witnessing  the  haughty  and 
sarcastic  contempt  with  which  a  child,  who  blunders  towards 
reading,  regards  him  who  only  stammers  to  spell !  Does  it 
not  expose  to  us  an  emblem  of  that  scene  which  much  of 
the  history  of  human  philosophy  presents  to  those  spiritual 
intelligences  that,  in  their  graduated  perfection,  rise  circle 
above  circle,  occupying  that  space  which  intervenes  between 
man  and  their  Creator? 

The  great  obstacles  to  correct  and  useful  philosophy,  then, 
are  to  be  found,  I  believe,  in  the  facility  with  which  our 
sloth  and  vanity  combine  in  leading  us  to  substitute  specu- 
lation for  fact,  because  it  requires  less  industry  to  form  a 
conjecture  than  to  make  a  research;  in  affecting  a  show 
of  information  that  we  do  not  possess,  and  endeavoring  to 
sustain  our  claim  by  words  without  ideas ;  in  rejecting  as 
useless  what  some  others  have  collected  lest  we  should  sink 
in  public  estimation,  by  turning  to  account  what  we  or 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  123 

our  colleagues  had  not  discovered.;  and  in  decrying  our 
predecessors,  instead  of  profiting  by  their  labors.  It  is  true 
that  the  pick  or  the  crowbar  would  be  exceedingly  inappro- 
priate tools  for  giving  the  last  finish  of  taste  to  a  splendid 
golden  vase ;  but  had  they  never  been  used  for  excava- 
tion, the  ore  would  not  have  been  furnished ;  and  what 
a  variety  of  intermediate  hands  must  be  employed  between 
that  which  first  opened  the  mine  and  that  which  finally 
touches  the  vessel !  The  pioneer  who  commenced  the  open- 
ing of  the  forest  should  not  be  despised  by  him  who  sub- 
sequently occupies  the  mansion  and  enjoys  the  wealth  of 
the  harvest  and  the  luxury  of  the  scene.  Human  science, 
like  human  labor,  is  progressive,  and  the  peculiar  duty  of 
the  philosopher,  like  that  of  the  workman,  is  to  exert  him- 
self for  the  improvement  of  what  he  received  in  a  state 
of  imperfection. 

I  am  far  from  being  an  advocate  for  the  modern  theory 
of  what  is  called  the  perfectibility  and  gradual  progress  to 
perfection  of  the  human  mind.  My  observations  and  reflec- 
tions have  led  me  to  the  conclusion,  that  God  has  given 
this  lower  world,  with  all  its  accumulated  treasures  and 
productions,  as  well  as  the  firmament  by  which  it  is  sur- 
rounded, and  studded  as  it  is  with  so  many  glorious  deco- 
rations, as  a  vast  field  for  man's  temporal  occupation ;  to 
search  out  their  several  parts,  to  discover  their  relations, 
their  properties,  their  uses,  their  affinities,  their  opposition, 
to  turn  them  to  the  purposes  of  his  own  happiness  here ; 
I  shall  not  in  this  place  advert  to  their  uses  for  here- 
after. This  investigation,  this  application,  is  what  I  call 
philosophy.  The  astronomer  who,  by  his  patient  and  labor- 
ious observations  and  calculations,  enables  the  navigator  in 
the  midst  of  the  waste  of  waters  to  know .  his  place  and 
to  pursue  his  proper  course ;  the  mathematician  and  the 
algebraist,  who  give  to  the  ship-builder,  the  engineer,  and 
to  so  marfy  others,  the  rules  by  whose  observance  they 
can  securely  attain  the  useful  objects  of  their  pursuit ;  the 
botanist  who  secures  to  us  the  benefits  of  our  diversified  veg- 


124  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

etation;  the  chemist  who,  by  analysis  and  composition,  turns- 
such  an  immense  mass  of  varied  productions  to  the  most 
extensive  account;  the  physician  who  applies  them  to  the 
solace  of  the  human  family;  the  anatomist  who,  by  his 
almost  godlike  skill,  is  able  to  detect  and  to  remove  the 
obstructions  as  \vell  as  to  repair  the  defects  of  the  animal 
system;  the  legislator  and  the  jurist  who  establish  and 
reduce  to  practice  the  great  principles  by  wrhose  operation 
peace,  prosperity  and  liberty  are  guarded;  they  who  study 
to  provide  and  to  prepare  for  use  the  great  articles  of 
sustenance,  of  clothing,  of  shelter,  of  defence,  of  comfort 
and  convenience  for  the  children  of  Adam :  all  these  form 
the  vast  aggregate  of  the  several  classes  of  philosophy.  It 
is  true  that  the  climate,  the  soil,  the  productions,  the  tem- 
perament, the  habits,  the  special  wants  and  peculiar  tastes 
of  nations  greatly  vary,  and  that  for  these  variations  con- 
siderable allowance  should  be  made ;  yet  in  all  cases  the 
great  principle  of  philosophy  is  the  same ;  that  is,  to 
extend  our  discoveries  in  that  range  which  is  subject  to 
our  research,  and.  turn  the  discovery  to  beneficial  account. 

From  this  view,  it  would  seem  that  the  duty  of  the 
philosopher  was  simple,  and  that,  by  his  faithful  attention 
to  its  discharge,  man  must  necessarily  make  constant  and 
rapid  progress  to  perfection;  for  he  has  only  to  pursue 
what  he  had  received,  to  add  his  own  observations  to  those 
of  his  predecessors,  and  to  transmit  the  increased  fund  to 
those  who  succeed  him ;  and  since  this  is  what  really  occurs, 
why  should  not  man  speedily  arrive  at  perfection?  The 
theory  is  plausible,  but  history  and  reflection  will  correct 
its  fallacy.  That  the  duty  of  the  philosopher  has  been 
properly  described,  I  readily  admit;  but  that  the  specified 
result  should  be  obtained,  it  is  necessary,  first,  that  all 
which  has  been  acquired  should  have  been  preserved ;  and 
secondly,  that  the  point  of  perfection  should  not  be  too 
remote.  The  advocates  for  what  is  called  perfectibility,  per- 
haps, never  seriously  examine  either  of  these  topics. 

Let   us   try   this   theory   of  the   progress   of   the   mind,    or 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  125 

as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  march  of  intellect,  by  the 
the  test  of  facts.  Think  you  was  the  mind  of  Homer 
more  feeble  than  that  of  Milton  ?  "Was  Virgil  or  Horace 
as  far  below  the  mental  grade  of  Pope  or  Dryden,  or 
these  latter  below  Byron  or  Moore,  as  their  intervened  cen- 
turies between  them?  Had  the  intellect  of  Demosthenes 
less  vigor  than  that  of  Patrick  Henry?  Or  was  Cicero 
twenty  degrees  upon  the  scale  of  forensic  merit  below  Wil- 
liam Pinckney  or  Daniel  Webster,  or  even  Baron  Vaux 
and  Brougham,  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England? 
AVhat  shall  I  say  of  Archimedes  and  Euclid?  Are  we  to 
find  the  proofs  of  this  theory  in  the  legislation  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  in  the  tactics  of  Csesar,  ia  the  architecture  of 
antiquity,  in  the  statuary  of  the  remote  ages,  in  the  minds 
that  planned  and  the  powers  that  erected  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt?  It  is  true  that  though  the  energies  of  the  mind  be 
unchanged,  the  facts  upon  which  1  they  operate  may  be 
extended  and  varied  as  time  advances  in  his  course.  In 
the  morning,  the  little  speck,  which  is  scarcely  perceptible 
upon  the  verge  of  the  horizon,  alone  breaks  the  serene 
uniformity  of  the  vacant  fields  of  air ;  but  as  the  day 
advances  it  ascends  and  approximates,  whilst  other  collec- 
tions appear,  accumulate,  and  unite ;  the  pregnant  storm 
shrouds  the  meridian  sun,  and  envelopes  the  ocean  in  its 
shade,  until  amidst  the  echoes  of  the  heavens  it  is  dis- 
charged and  expires ;  yet  the  unchanged  observer  pre-ex- 
isted and  survives. 

How  frequently  have  we  witnessed  a  noble  patrimony 
broken  up  and  scattered  by  a  dissipated  heir !  How  often 
has  the  flood  or  the  storm  swept  away  a  splendid  man- 
sion, and  reduced  a  rich  plantation  to  a  desert !  How 
many  times  has  a  licentious  soldiery  or  an  unruly  mob 
devastated  a  noble  capital  in  which  the  wealth  of  nature 
and  the  decorations  of  art  abounded!  So,  too,  has  the 
sloth  or  luxury  of  one  age  dissipated  the  mental  acquisi- 
tions of  those  which  preceded  it ;  an  incursion  of  barba- 
rians has  frequently  swept  science  from  its  domain,  and 


126  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

covered  the  land  with  ignorance  and  ruin  and  despair. 
When  nations  are  disturbed  for  the  purpose  of  ambition 
or  the  vengeance  of  disappointment;  when  the  public  mind 
is  filled  with  discontent  and  indignation;  when  maddened 
hosts  fly  to  arms  and  rush  to  mutual  destruction  in  the 
rage  of  battle ;  or  when  the  heavy  yoke  of  robust  despot- 
ism presses  upon  a  crushed  people ;  or  when,  animated  by 
the  spirit  of  liberty,  men  rise  to  assert  their  rights  and 
to  overthrow  their  oppressors ;  in  times  like  these,  under 
circumstances  of  this  description,  especially  before  copies  of 
works  were  multiplied  by  the  introduction  of  the  press, 
and  the  few  that  existed  being  destroyed  by  the  wantonness- 
of  the  victor  or  the  indignation  of  the  vanquished,  how 
frequent  and  how  extensive  was  the  destruction  of  the 
records  and  of  the  collections  of  the  philosopher !  Thus 
has  the  knowledge  of  many  an  ancient  art  been  obliterated. 
The  evidence  of  their  existence,  like  the  remnants  of  stained 
glass  which  are  still  found  in  many  ancient  churches,  lets 
in  upon  us  a  soft  and  mellowed  light,  which  informs  us. 
that  if  we  possess  knowledge  which  did  not  exist  amongst 
men  of  other  days,  they  enjoyed  some  which  has  not  reached 
us ;  like  many  a  rich  cargo  that  has  been  lost  at  sea,  it 
is  covered  with  the  waters  of  oblivion.  Who  will  under- 
take to  assert  that  the  mass  of  what  has  been  lost  does 
not  equal  the  bulk  of  what  exists  to-day?  I  am  far  from 
inclining  to  the  opinion  that  it  docs ;  but  I  think  it  would 
savor  of  rashness  boldly  to  make  cither  assertion. 

But  suppose  all  the  ancient  discoveries  to  have  been 
faithfully  preserved  and  the  new  ones  duly  transmitted; 
when  will  the  accumulation  fill  up  the  measure  of  perfec- 
tion? What  is  its  capacity?  Should  a  myriad  of  men  be 
continually  occupied  in  depositing  grains  of  .sand,  when 
would  they  form  a  globe  whose  axles  would  touch  opposed 
points  in  the  orbit  of  ITerschel  ?  Let  us  compare  the  pro- 
gress of  mind  with  the  progress  of  motion.  If  we  take 
our  observations  upon  what  was  the  perfection  of  the  mind 
in  the  Augustan  age  and  what  it  is  to-day,  you  may  assume 


CLASSICAL    EDUCATIO^.  127 

superiority  to  the  fullest  extent  of  your  disposition,  you 
will  at  all  events  allow  that  the  progress  has  not  been 
with  the  rapidity  of  light.  And  yet,  even  with  this  accel- 
eration, when  would  you  reach  those  fixed  stars  that  show 
so  dimly  in  their  distance?  Yet  is  the  immensity  of  Him 
who  alone  is  perfection  spread  abroad  infinitely  beyond, 
where  their  faintest  rays  terminate  in  an  opposite  direction! 
When  do  we  hope  to  reach  it?  I  therefore  admit  that 
there  is  abundant  room  for  the  continual  progress  of  philo- 
sophical improvement,  though  I  cannot  subscribe  to  the 
fallacious  theory  of  human  perfectibility.  I  allow  that  there, 
are  great  incentives  for  approaching  as  nearly  as  we  can 
to  perfection,  though  we  can  never  attain  it ;  like  the 
asymptotes  of  the  hyperbola ;  He,  who  alone  is  perfect,  con- 
tinues in  one  changeless  direction  through  eternity,  whilst,, 
though  the  created  mind,  like  the  curve,  should  continu- 
ally approximate  as  it  advances,  yet  will  they  never  coincide.. 
There  is  another  circumstance  also  upon  which  I  desire- 
to  observe.  Men  do  not  always  receive  with  implicit  con- 
fidence the  principles  and  facts  of  whose  truth  their  pre- 
decessors were  satisfied.  The  patrimony  of  the  philosopher 
is  not  like  material  wealth,  manifestly  prepared  and  made 
quite  available.  And  to  a  certain  extent,  this  too  is  useful. 
First  principles  need  scarcely  an  explanation,  they  readily 
receive  our  assent;  but  it  is  otherwise  with  the  conclu- 
sions to  which  the  ancients  have  arrived.  In  some  cases 
our  pride,  our  curiosity,  our  spirit  of  independence,  our 
love  of  novelty,  will  lead  us  not  only  to  question  and 
doubt,  but  to  use  our  efforts  to  prove  them  erroneous. 
This  disposition,  moderately  indulged,  has  frequently  been  of 
the  greatest  advantage  in  detecting  error,  in  correcting  mis- 
takes, and  in  protecting  truth  by  the  erection  of  new  bul- 
warks, or  of  rendering  it  more  bright  by  collision.  When 
carried  beyond  its  proper  limits,  it  has  not  only  been  a 
waste  of  time  and  of  energies,  but  a  source  of  perplexity 
and  error.  How  many  fine  minds  have  been  ruined  by 
this  most  mischievous  practice?  This  was  the  great  source 


128  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

whence  flowed  that  cold  scepticism,  which,  whilst  to  some  it 
seemed  to  be  an  enriching  stream  of  philosophy,  chilled  the 
soil  and  destroyed  its  prolific  power.  It  was  like  crystal 
to  the  eye,  but  its  taste  was  of  nitre. 

But  let  us  suppose  the  absence  of  doubts  and  the  dis- 
position to  believe.  Still,  all  minds  are  originally  placed 
alike  uninformed  at  the  vestibule  of  science,  and  they  can- 
iiot  arrive  at  the  shrine  without  proceeding  through  the 
temple ;  though  the  progress  of  some  be  more  rapid  than 
that  of  others,  yet  the  advances  of  all  are  really  slow.  No 
anxiety  to  admit  the  truth  of  a  mathematical  demonstration 
will  enable  the  tryo  to  comprehend  it  without  the  tedious 
preliminary  process,  though  it  is  true,  that  when  the  way 
has  been  explored  and  the  road  formed,  the  consumption 
of  time  and  labor  is  wonderfully  diminished  for  us,  who 
liave  the  benefit  of  the  works  constructed  by  the  preced- 
ing occupants ;  and  thus,  to  a  certain  extent,  we  have  con- 
siderable advantages ;  but  the  wealth  of  the  mind  cannot 
be  attained  without  a  large  expenditure  of  years  and  appli- 
cation by  the  individual  himself,  let  the  deposit  which  has 
l>een  transmitted  be  ever  so  valuable.  Add  to  this  con- 
sideration, the  brevity  of  life,  the  variety  of  avocations,  the 
allurements  of  pleasure,  the  duties  of  religion,  the  demands 
of  family,  the  wants  of  ourselves  and  of  our  connections, 
the  claims  of  the  unfortunate,  the  concerns  of  the  State,  the 
faction  of  parties,  and  the  vast  multitude  of  other  embar- 
rassments ;  and  what  then  becomes  of  the  fine  visions  of 
philosophical  accumulation  and  man's  perfectibility?  The 
realities  of  life  correct  the  delusions  of  the  sophist. 

The  portion,  therefore,  which  any  individual  is  able  to 
contribute  to  the  general  fund,  must  be  exceedingly  small; 
exceptions  will  be  noticed,  and  are  admitted.  But  if  we 
have  our  eyes  drawn  to  the  admiration  of  Plato,  of  Ptolemy, 
of  Copernicus,  of  Galileo,  of  Columbus,  of  Newton,  of 
Bacon,  of  Locke,  of  DCS  Cartes,  of  Leibnitz,  and  so  many 
others,  how  many  myriads  have  passed  away  from  whom 
no  contribution  has  been  received?  It  is  this  poverty  of 


CLASSICAL   EDUCATION.  129 

individuals  that  renders  association  useful,  '  because  from  the 
difference  of  tastes  there  will  arise  a  diversity  of  pursuits, 
and  mutual  exhibition  of  knowledge  will  create  mutual  con- 
fidence;  each  can  easily  judge  how  far  he  might  with  pru- 
dence and  safety  use  the  production  of  his  associate,  and 
each  will  be  urged  to  greater  exertions  by  the  example  which 
encourages  and  the  emulation  which  provokes.  Thus  the 
very  difficulties  which  would  seem  to  impede  us,  should 
l)ut  animate  us  to  proceed. 

An  additional  motive  will  be  found  in  contemplating  the 
extensive  opportunities  which  offer  of  increasing  our  advan- 
tages by  a  communion  with  similar  societies,  of  which  so 
many  are  found  in  the  several  States  of  our  own  Union, 
not  to  mention  those  of  other  regions  of  the  civilized  world. 

"What,  then,  should  be   our  object? 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  perceive  how  useful  it  would 
be  to  collect  and  to  embody  admitted  principles  concerning 
whose  truth  there  is  no  longer  any  question ;  as  they  have 
the  testimony  of  ages  and  nations,  after  deep  and  continued 
reflection :  to  these  might  be  added  those  facts  whose  truth 
is  proved  by  the  same  testimony,  whether  they  appertain 
to  history,  to  geography,  to  geology,  to  astronomy,  to  physi- 
ology, or  to  whatever  class  of  science  they  may  belong. 
Like  the  demonstrations  of  mathematics,  they  should  be 
sustained  by  their  appropriate  evidence,  so  that,  as  the 
student  is  made  acquainted  with  the  fact,  he  should  also 
receive  its  proof.  How  immense  has  been  the  loss  sus- 
tained by  the  neglect  of  this  simple  and  natural  precaution! 
It  too  frequently  happens  that  when  we  are  ourselves  con- 
vinced, we  imagine  that  no  one  will  be  so  absurd  as  to 
deny  that  to  be  true,  to  which  we  have  given  our  assent; 
and  we  forget  that,  by  our  sloth,  we  have  left  others  with- 
out the  means  that  produced  our  own  conviction.  AVere 
I  asked,  what  I  consider  to  have  been  the  most  efficient 
cause  of  dispute  in  the  world,  I  would  probably  assign  this 
disposition,  which  results  from  a  combination  of  pride  and 
sloth,  causing  us  to  feel  a  dissent  from  our  views  as  an 


130  CLASSICAL   EDUCATION. 

insult,  whilst  from  others  we  require  assent  without  fur- 
nishing the  evidence  that  would  command  it.  Through  want 
of  this,  it  sometimes  happens  that  fact  and  fable  are,  for 
a  while,  not  distinguishable,  and  a  man  of  prudence  will 
avoid  relying  upon  that  statement  of  whose  truth  he  has 
no  certainty;  the  certainty  must  arise  from  a  proof  that 
is  not  furnished :  upon  what  ground  shall  he  rest  ?  It  is 
not  then  sufficient  that  we  leave  facts  upon  record ;  we 
should  moreover  leave  record  of  their  proof. 

But  of  what  description  are  these  facts,  whose  knowledge 
it  is  so  important  to  preserve  ?  I  answer :  of  every  descrip- 
tion. It  is  a  serious  mistake  to  imagine  that  nothing  is 
useful  for  the  purposes  of  philosophy,  unless  it  has  some 
extraordinary  character,  is  out  of  the  common  range  of 
objects,  has  been  procured  from  some  foreign  region,  or 
bears  some  name  of  learned  length  and  thundering  sound. 
The  proper  object  of  the  philosopher,  as  I  stated,  is  to> 
ascertain  truth  for  useful  purposes.  Now,  the  objects  which 
are  commonly  met  with  are  those  most  extensively  applica- 
ble to  our  benefit,  and  of  course,  upon  the  principle  which 
I  have  assumed,  an  accurate  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  their  properties  would  be  extremely  advantageous.  The 
wants  and  avarice  of  mankind  have  excited,  during  many 
ages,  to  industry  in  this  department,  and  perhaps  in  this 
the  discoveries  have  been  most  extensive  and  accurate.  Yet, 
even  here,  our  daily  experience,  and  the  history  of  other 
societies,  exhibit  the  vast  improvements  of  every  year.  The 
academies  of  Europe,  especially  those  of  France,  of  Italy,  of 
Germany,  and  of  England,  are  continually  adding  much  to 
the  stock  of  science  in  this  department.  The  analysis  and 
application  of  the  most  ordinary  materials  and  productions 
are  still  in  a  march  of  uninterrupted  progress ;  the  arts 
have  been  wonderfully  improved,  facilities  and  comforts 
extensively  increased,  and  the  resources  of  man  greatly 
enlarged  by  the  scarcely  perceptible  labors  of  individuals, 
who,  in  the  several  societies  and  in  mechanical  occupations, 
guided  by  the  principles  daily  imparted  and  the  facts  almost 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  131 

hourly  communicated,  add  some  little  to  the  accumulation 
already  made.  We  do  not  indeed  at  present  meet  one  of  our 
exploring  associates  returning  with  the  evidence  that  a  new 
continent  has  been  discovered;  seldom  do  we  observe  a 
thick  vapor  to  rest  upon  the  troubled  ocean,  and  find  upon 
its  thinning  away  that  a  new  island  has  arisen;  but  this 
incessant  addition,  by  a  multitude  of  individuals,  gives  to 
us  a  more  permanent  though  less  showy  acquisition  in  those 
rising  and  numerous  masses  of  coral  which  afford  room  for 
secure  and  solid  habitation.  They  are  conquests  made  by 
untiring  industry  from  the  barren  waste  of  the  deep,  they 
are  lasting  acquirements  of  new  possession,  monitions  to 
activity,  additions  to  wealth,  and  room  for  population. 

There  are  indeed  a  variety  of  facts  in  what  are  called 
the  higher  departments  of  science,  which  are  also  occasion- 
ally developed;  and  perhaps  in  no  period  of  some  cen- 
turies at  any  previous  time,  have  more  facts  been  brought 
to  light  regarding  the  component  parts  of  this  our  globe 
and  their  properties  than  within  the  last  fifty  years.  Within 
that  period  also,  man  has  extended  his  researches  far  into 
the  regions  of  the  air,  and  discovered  new  worlds  by  the 
aid  of  optical  mechanism.  How  wonderfully  has  the  dominion 
of  the  chemist  been  extended,  and  what  power  does  he 
exercise  through  the  vast  regions  made  subject  to  his  sway! 
How  fallen,  how  imbecile,  is  the  once  dreaded  magician 
at  his  feet !  We  are  unable  to  enumerate  the  immense 
quantity  of  improvements  effected  in  the  useful  arts  by  the 
application  of  those  discoveries.  How  have  the  powers  of 
man  been  increased  within  that  period  by  the  combinations 
of  machinery !  And  as  the  events  that  would  have  been 
formerly  spread  over  ages,  appear  crowded  into  that  petty 
space;  so,  too,  by  our  recent  discoveries,  distance,  like  time, 
has  been  subdued  by  the  moral  approximation  of  remote 
regions  through  means  of  steam  and  rail.1  He  who  fifty 

'Space  has  been  still  more  astonishingly  annihilated  since  Bishop  England's 
day,  by  the  invention  of  the  telegraph;  and  we  are  only  in  the  beginnings  of 
the  wonders  of  electricity. 


132  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

years  ago  should  have  ventured  to  predict  these  occurrences, 
would  be  considered  more  visionary  than  he  who  would 
presume  to  describe  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Saturn's 
ring.  Who  can  undertake  to  say  what  another  half  cen- 
tury will  unfold  ?  lie  alone  whose  eye  takes  in,  at  every 
moment,  all  time  and  space.  To  us,  the  events  of  the  past 
should  be  incitements  to  continued  exertion ;  and  though, 
perhaps,  no  one  of  us  could  devote  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  his  time  or  of  his  talent  to  our  common  object, 
yet  each,  by  keeping  in  view  what  we  seek  to  attain,  may 
be  in  some  way  useful. 

Amongst  those  facts  which  are  specially  important  to  be 
well  known  and  fully  established,  are  those  of  natural  his- 
tory ;  and  nothing  can  so  powerfully  contribute  to  this  as 
the  possession,  the  preservation,  and  the  extension  of  a 
well-regulated  museum.  In  it  the  lessons  which  would  be 
tediously  and  imperfectly  taught  by  mere  recitation  and 
description,  are  instantly  communicated  by  a  glance,  they 
are  impressed  upon  the  memory  by  the  gratification  of  curi- 
osity, they  are  scientifically  classed  by  the  arrangement  of 
rooms  and  cases.  Thus,  the  mere  upholding  of  such  a 
department  in  proper  order,  with  occasional  public  explana- 
tion, would  be  an  extensive  benefit,  not  only  to  our  society, 
but  to  the  citizens,  especially  to  the  youth.  I  shall  not 
dwell  here  upon  that  commerce,  as  I  might  call  it,  in  sci- 
ence, which  consists  in  an  interchange  of  natural  produc- 
tions of  the  various  regions,  by  the  several  scientific  socie- 
ties ;  for  the  encouragement  of  which  there  appears  to  be 
amongst  them  all  an  increasing  disposition.  I  am  convinced 
that,  upon  proper  application,  every  facility  would  be  afforded 
by  our  general  government  for  such  interchange ;  and  I 
trust  that,  whatever  our  political  differences  may  be,  we 
should  find  no  disposition  to  nullify  this  regulation  of  com- 
merce, or  to  destroy  this  species  of  protection.  We  might 
at  least  innocently,  if  not  usefully,  commence  by  prepara- 
tion the  manufacture  of  some  of  our  native  products,  and 
be  allowed  a  free  trade  with  all  similar  societies,  for  cor- 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  133 

responding  returns,  not  only  without  the  grievance  of  a 
tariff'  upon  their  importation,  but  even  with  the  bounty  of 
a  free  freight  in  our  public  vessels.  Some  of  our  Medi- 
terranean squadron  would  probably  feel  no  inconvenience  in 
exchanging  a  few  harmless  wild-cats  or  peaceable  panthers, 
for  casts  of  antique  vases  or  of  exquisite  statues,  or  for 
some  of  the  utensils  of  Pompeii  or  of  Herculaneum. 

When  the  body  is  torpid  for  want  of  exercise  the  hu- 
mors become  sluggish  or  stagnate,  and  disease  ensues ;  if 
there  be  excitement  it  is  feverish,  and  the  consequent 
restlessness  irritates  and  increases  the  disorder.  So  it  is 
with  the  human  mind,  if  it  have  not  some  wholesome 
employment,  it  becomes  sickly,  irritated,  and  filled  with 
discontent;  it  is  easily  excited;  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
gloomy  scenes  horrid  spectres  are  presented  to  the  imagina- 
tion, and  the  consequences  arc  equally  pernicious  to  society 
and  to  the  deluded  individual.  How  frequently  would  it 
be  one  of  the  greatest  earthly  blessings,  not  only  to  the 
victims,  but  to  their  families  and  connections,  if  the  strong 
powers  of  fine,  but,  alas!  ruined  minds  had  been  early 
habituated  to  the  healthful  exercise  of  even  the  humblest 
philosophical  investigation,  instead  of  having  been  indulged 
in  that  sloth  which  has  made  them  burdens  to  themselves, 
tired  of  existence,  and  worrying  to  their  friends !  How 
many  are  there,  who,  in  dread  or  ignorance,  turn  from  the 
philosophic  hall,  and,  determined  at  all  hazards  to  escape 
the  horrors  of  ennui,  plunge  into  dissipation !  How  many, 
perhaps,  laboring  under  the  influence  of  irregular  excitement, 
communicate  the  frenzy  under  the  semblance  of  religious 
or  patriotic  zeal !  When  this  dreadful  malady  exhibits 
such  symptoms,  it  is,  perhaps,  as  hopeless  of  a  cure  as 
that  which  ensues  from  the  bite  of  a  rabid  animal.  But 
the  evil  might,  in  a  great  measure,  if  not  altogether,  have 
been  prevented,  by  removing  its  cause;  and  where  no  more 
urgent  mode  demands  a  preference  the  occupations  of  phi- 
losophy are,  perhaps,  the  most  efficacious  and  the  most 
useful ;  and,  from  the  view  that  I  have  taken,  you  will 
perceive  that  they  arc  within  the  reach  of  every  individual. 


134  CLASSICAL  EDUCATION. 

There  is  another  motive  that  I  would  press  upon  every 
Carolinian.  Will  you,  whilst  the  rest  of  the  civilized  world 
is  pressing  forward  in  the  career  of  science,  stand  with 
your  arms  folded?  We  do  possess  considerable  facilities 
for  scientific  improvement;  we  have  not  made  of  them  all 
the  use  which  they  afforded.  Perhaps  our  fault  has  been, 
that,  in  this  as  in  other  instances,  we  have  been  too  san- 
guine, and  that,  having  commenced  with  ardor,  we  yielded 
to  disappointment  at  not  finding,  as  it  were,  magical  effects 
flow  from  our  very  association.  Perhaps  we  have  been,  in 
some  degree,  ourselves  to  blame,  for  want  of  regular 
attendance  and  strict  adherence  to  system.  When  I  look 
upon  the  few  years  that  I  have  had  the  honor  of  being 
your  associate  I  perceive  that  we  had  amongst  us  talents 
of  the  first  order,  zeal  for  the  promotion  of  science,  and 
deep  philosophical  erudition.  In  whom  have  they  been 
more  happily  blended  and  clearly  developed,  than  in  that 
excellent  individual  who  desired  to  conceal,  if  he  was  con- 
scious of  possessing  them?  Need  I  name  our  late  lamenteji 
president,  Elliott?  But  what  was  the  concealment?  Not 
of  the  knowledge  which  he  communicated,  but  of  the  mind 
from  which  it  flowed.  lie  would  veil  the  radiance  that 
adorned  him,  yet  so  as  to  shed  the  light  which  informed 
and  cheered  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  Estimable 
man!  The  remembrance  which  he  has  left,  like  the  dispo- 
sition with  which  he  was  blessed,  combines  the  vigor  of 
one  sex  with  the  sweetness  of  the  other.  You  have  heard 
his  eulogy  from  lips  well  fitted  to  pronounce  it.  I  shall 
not  prolong  its  echo.  Have  we  not  seen  in  our  late 
venerable  vice-president,2  an  excellent  model  of  that  per- 
severing industry,  that  patient  research,  that  regular  attend- 
ance, that  extensive  knowledge  and  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  our  society,  which  it  would  be  well  if  we  continued  to 
imitate? 

Nor    have    we    been    altogether    useless.      Witness    those 
admirable  lectures    on  geology  and  botany,  which,  while   they 

i  Doctor  James  Moultric,  Jr.  'Timothy  Fordo,  Esq. 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION.  135 

attracted  the  talent  and  beauty  of  our  city,  gave  to  litera- 
ture the  sanction  of  fashionable  support,  and  polished  and 
extended  that  chaste  and  cultivated  taste  which  pervades  our 
first  circles.  Witness  those  literary  and  philosophical  exer- 
cises, which,  by  their  public  occurrence,  not  only  increased 
the  appetite  for  knowledge,  but  also  its  supply;  not  for  a 
select  few,  but  for  all  our  intelligent  population;  and  the 
resuming  of  which,  with  our  lately-increased  numbers,  prom- 
ises to  render  our  society  more  extensively  and  permanently 
useful.  This  is  not  the  place,  nor  this  the  occasion,  to 
advert  to  those  other  contemplated  exertions,  which  have 
occasionally  occupied  our  thoughts  and  engrossed  our  con- 
versation during  the  last  two  pr  three  years.  I  repeat  it, 
we  have  great  facilities,  were  we  industrious  in  turning 
them  to  account.  And  why  should  not  Carolina  indulge 
and  cherish  this  holy  ambition?  This  State  has  held  a 
high  rank  for  polite  literature;  surely  she  ought  to  com- 
plain of  her  sons,  if,  recreant  to  their  patriotic  and  literary 
reputation,  they  degenerate  from  their  fathers,  and  slothfully 
permit  themselves  to  be  surpassed  by  States  which,  within 
their  own  recollection,  were  only  heavy  forests,  through 
which  the  Indian  and  his  game  could  scarcely  penetrate. 

I  do  cherish  the  expectation  that  they  will  arouse  to 
exertion,  and  in  their  own  sunny  land,  under  their  own 
serene  sky,  they  will  generously  climb  the  hill  of  science, 
and  cultivate  it  to  its  very  top ;  crowning  its  summit  with 
those  useful  productions  which  not  only  will  delight  the 
eye  by  the  richness  and  delicacy  of  their  color,  but  will 
gratify  the  taste  by  the  excellence  of  the  fruit,  and  send 
through  many  leagues  on  every  side,  upon  the  soft  yet 
bracing  air,  an  odorous  perfume  fitted  to  regale  the  home 
of  her  children,  and  to  attract  the  praise  and  admiration 
of  the  stranger. 


DESCEHT  OF  .ZENEAS  IUTO  HADES.1 


IN  reading  the  works  of  poets  or  others,  which  are  gen- 
erally styled  fiction,  perhaps  we  have  been  too  apt  to  regard 
the  productions  of  the  best  writers  as  more  imaginative 
than  in  truth  they  are.  "When  Horace  tells  those  who 
would  write,  either  to  follow  nature,  or  to  invent  what 
would  have  all  its  parts  in  keeping;  they  who  desire  to 
observe  the  rule,  will  perhaps  find  it  much  easier  and 
better  calculated  to  insure  success,  to  take  the  first  part  of 
the  admonition  than  the  second.  Probably  the  great  cause 
why  a  vast  multitude  of  authors  of  this  description  have 
had  so  little  success,  will  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  the 
greater  number,  in  creating  their  scenery,  have  consulted 
their  imagination  in  preference  to  their  observation. 

This  idea  has  impressed  itself  more  deeply  upon  my 
mind,  since  I  have  been  led  to  believe,  that  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  finished  pictures  of  one  of  the  masters  of  poetry 
•were  sketches  from  nature,  embellished  indeed  by  imagina- 
tion and  improved  with  exquisite  taste,  and  not  merely 
the  results  of  fiction. 

Something  more  than  two  years  have  elapsed  since,  on. 
a  beautiful  evening  in  May,  I  drove  out,  accompanied  by 
a  few  friends,  on  the  road  leading  from  Naples  towards  the> 
ancient  Putcoli.  "NVhen  we  arrived  near  the  entrance  of 
the  grotto  of  Posilippo,  a  proposition  was  made  to  alight 
and  climb  the  steep  zigzag  road  leading  to  the  tomb  of 
Virgil.  Arrived  at  the  door  of  the  garden  in  which  this 
mouldering  relic  is  situated,  we  quickened  our  pace  as  we 

i This  essay  first  appeared  as  an  artLlo  In  the  Southern  Literary  Journal,  Vol.  I» 
No.  1. 


DESCENT  OF  <ENEAS  INTO  HADES.  137 

doubled  the  windings  of  the  narrow  path  that,  by  a  long, 
circuit,  leads  to  this  spot  of  classic  interest.  We  stood 
silent  within  this  decaying  chamber — we  looked  around  on 
its  desolate  walls  and  time-worn,  vaulted  roof,  all  stained 
with  the  green  tinge  of  successive  centuries.  A  marble 
slab  of  comparatively  modern  sculpture,  perhaps  placed  about 
two  or  three  hundred  years  since  in  one  of  the  sides,, 
unnecessarily  proclaimed,  in  a  crabbed  imitation  of  Latin, 
that  of  which  every  peasant  child  was  aware,  that  this 
chamber  was  the  resting-place  of  the  great  Mantuan  bard;, 
here  what  was  mortal  of  the  polished  Maro  had  mouldered- 

We  viewed  each  other.  We  looked  from  the  aperture* 
in  the  side — the  bay  of  Naples  spread  broadly  before  us- 
It  was  a  serene  sky ;  a  light  air  moved  along  the  waters  ^ 
a  thin,  brown  vapor  above  its  summit  distinguished  Vesu- 
vius in  the  distance.  We  looked  down  to  the  road  where 
we  had  left  our  carriage ;  we  involuntarily  drew  back  from 
the  precipice,  and  again  advanced  to  see  how  diminished, 
to  the  view  were  the  beings  entering  or  issuing  from  the 
excavated  tunnel,  as  they  traveled  at  such  a  distance  below 
us,  from  or  towards  Naples.  The  tongue  ventured  to  express, 
a  few  words,  and  we  soon  resumed  our  conversation.  We- 
agreed  that  the  spot  upon  which  the  body  of  the  poet  was 
deposited  after  death,  was  one  well  calculated  during  life 
to  have  excited  his  enthusiasm,  enriched  his  imagination,, 
and  stored  his  memory  with  the  materials  for  description. 

A  few  mornings  afterwards,  we  were  seated  upon  the 
indurated  lava  at  the  summit  of  Vesuvius.  It  was  about 
an  hour  after  the  sun  had  risen ;  even  then  his  rays  were= 
powerful.  We  were  fatigued  and  heated  by  the  immense 
labor  of  climbing  the  mighty  precipice  of  ashes ;  vast 
masses  of  cinder  glowed  under  us,  hundred  of  fissures 
emitted  hot  sulphuric  vapor  scarcely  perceptible  to  the  eye,, 
but  fully  sensible  to  the  smell  and  feeling.  Our  guides  drew 
from  the  brown  ashes  the  eggs  which  they  had  brought  up 
for  their  repast;  a  very  few  minutes  had  sufficed  for  their 
cooking ;  they  found  the  finest  salt  on  almost  every  frag- 


138  DESCENT  OF  ^NEAS  INTO  HADES. 

merit  within  their  reach.  And  yet  in  this  region  of  fire, 
the  gentle  temperature  of  the  breeze  gradually  refreshed 
and  invigorated  us.  Our  faces  were  turned  towards  the 
tomb  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay.  The  city,  consider- 
ably below  us,  showed  on  our  right  like  a  rich,  white 
margin  between  the  land  and  water;  in  a  few  places 
this  appeared  thicker,  and  advanced  a  little  upon  the 
•expanded  plain  that  stretched  along  towards  the  Adriatic. 
The  road  to  Herculaneum,  the  little  town  of  Torre  del 
Greco,  and  a  number  of  others,  were  discernible,  and  we 
looked  on  our  left,  to  try  and  ascertain  the  site  of  Pom- 
peii, through  whose  desolate  streets  we  had  walked  but 
iwo  days  previously.  The  island  of  Capri  rose  as  a  dark 
mass  in  what  was  anciently  called  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  but 
the  eye  discerned  the  horizon  of  water  glittering  far 
beyond  it,  and  we  could  observe  the  liquid  element  spread- 
ing to  the  west  and  south  of  Procida  and  Ischia,  to  the 
west  from  the  ridge  of  Posilippo,  the  reflection  from  the 
waters  near  Baia?,  seemed  like  that  of  liquid  silver,  and 
the  eye  reached  towards  the  north  even  to  Gaeta.  One  of 
my  companions,  on  discovering  the  headland,  repeated: 

"And  thou,   O  matron  of  immortal  fame, 
Here  dying,  to  the  shore  hast  left  thy  name. 
Caieta  still  the  place  is  called  from  thee, 
The  nurse  of  great  Eneas'  infancy. 
Here  rest  thy  bones  in  rich  Hesperia's  plains, 
Thy  name  ('tis  all  a  ghost  can  claim)  remains." 

"  This  was  the  spot  selected  by  Virgil  for  perhaps  the 
"best  and  most  beautiful  of  his  descriptions,"  said  he,  "and 
surely  he  could  not  have  chosen  a  better."  We  had  pre- 
viously visited  the  splendid  Museum  of  Naples,  in  whose 
numerous  and  extensive  departments  so  many  remains  of 
the  genius  of  southern  Italy  are  collected.  We  spoke  of 
several  that  had  been  lately  dug  up,  after  an  interment 
of  nearly  twenty  centuries  under  the  masses  of  sand  and 
ashes,  flung  over  many  a  league  from  that  very  crater 
upon  whose  edge  we  were  then  seated.  We  admired  the 


DESCENT  OF  &NEAS  INTO  HADES.  139 

ingenuity,  the  patience,  the  industry,  the  zeal  and  informa- 
tion of  those  scientific  men  whom  we  had  seen  unrolling, 
deciphering,  copying,  supplying  the  chasms,  and  preparing 
for  publication  the  ancient  volume  of  parchment,  reduced 
nearly  to  a  mass  of  carbon  in  the  ruins  which  fiery  lava 
had  created.  And  turning  to  one  of  my  friends,  who  was 
an  inhabitant  of  Great  Britain,  I  remarked :  "  These  are  the 
men  whom  your  writers  have  represented  as  ignorant,  lazy, 
priest-ridden  Italians,  enemies  to  science  and  degraded  in 
superstition ! "  "I  acknowledge,"  said  he,  "that  our  writers 
have,  for  party  purposes,  done  the  Italians  the  greatest 
injustice,  and  at  your  side  of  the  Atlantic,  you  are  not 
only  our  rivals,  but  as  you  claim  pre-eminence  in  so  many 
departments,  you  will  not,  I  am  convinced,  deny  that  many 
of  your  writers  have  outstripped  us  even  in  this."  I  could 
not  make  all  the  concessions  he  desired.  We  agreed,  there- 
fore, to  leave  the  pretensions  of  the  United  Kingdom  and 
those  of  the  United  States  to  be  settled  by  the  king  of 
Holland,  or  by  any  other  arbiter  that  may  be  agreed  on 
by  better  authorized  plenipotentiaries,  and  we  returned  to 
the  discussion  of  descriptions  given  by  Virgil.  Yet  this 
was  connected  with  the  visits  we  had  paid  to  the  Museum, 
because  it  was  there  we  had  first  heard  of  the  work  of 
the  Rev.  Andrew  Jorio,  a  learned  canon  of  Naples,  who 
is  as  eminent  for  his  literature  as  he  is  for  his  unpre- 
tending piety;  it  was  there  we  had  first  learned  his  opinion, 
that  the  passages  contained  in  the  sixth  book  of  the  JEneid, 
describing  the  infernal  regions  of  Tartarus  and  of  Elysium, 
•\vere  all  suggested  to  the  poet  from  a  spot  near  Baise. 
AVe  had  there  procured  the  treatise,  and  were  led  to  dis- 
cuss its  merits,  whilst  we  projected  a  hasty  visit  to  the 
same  regions,  to  pass  freely  through  which,  even  at  this 
day,  requires  the  offering  of  a  sprig  from  the  golden  branch. 
I  regretted  that  an  indisposition  under  which  he  labored, 
whilst  I  was  in  the  south  of  Italy,  prevented  my  having 
the  gratification  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  this  respect- 
able and  accomplished  scholar,  whom  I  desired  much  to 


140  DESCENT  OF  &XEAS  ISTO   HADES. 

know,  not  only  on  account  of  his  scientific  and  literary 
attainments,  but  also  for  his  ministerial  usefulness.  My  own 
time  was  also  curtailed,  and  I  was  not  able  to  make  all 
the  excursions  that  I  had  intended  in  this  most  interesting 
neighborhood.  I  have,  however,  attentively  perused  the  work 
of  Canon  Jorio,  and  seen  something  of  the  vicinity.  Per- 
haps I  could,  therefore,  with  some  little  prospect  of  success, 
undertake  to  show  you,  by  his  description,  some  of  the 
reasons  for  the  assertion  with  which  I  have  set  out ;  that 
the  writers  who,  in  works  of  fiction,  found  their  descrip- 
tions upon  observation  in  preference  to  mere  imagination, 
are  those  most  likely  to  succeed. 

Two  facts  are  incontestable.  First,  in  the  fifth  book  the 
poet  describes  the  departure  of  the  remnant  of  the  Trojan 
fleet  from  Sicily,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  descent  upon 
Italy,  and  especially,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  JEneas 
to  visit  the  shade  of  his  father  in  Elysium  according  to  the 
admonition  of  Anchises  himself,  who  in  line  735  informs 
him  who  shall  be  his  guide : 

"The  chaste  Sybilla  shall  your  steps  convey, 
And  blood  of  offered  victims  strew  the  way." 

It  is  also  certain  that  his  voyage  lay  nearly  west  of 
north  from  Gaeta  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  and  leaving 
the  shore  of  Cumse,  the  closing  lines  of  the  sixth  book 
informs  us  that  his  way  for  Gaeta  lay  directly  along  shore, 
of  course  in  nearly  a  northern  direction.  These  premises 
lead  us,  independently  of  any  other  consideration,  to  the 
discovery  of  the  spot  upon  which  he  landed  in  search  of 
the  Sibyl.  It  was  the  coast  of  Cumse,  upon  the  western 
side  of  the  promontory  which,  at  the  north  entrance  to  the 
Bay  of  Naples,  puts  down  about  three  miles  to  the  south, 
thus  forming  the  tongue  of  land  which  divides  the  Bay 
of  Puzzoli  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  A  difficulty  seemed 
to  present  itself  to  a  few  critics,  as  some  said  it  was  not 
Cumaj,  but  Baise,  and  this  would  not  lead  us  to  the  spot 
which,  it  is  contended,  furnished  the  poet  with  his  topog- 


DESCENT   OF  JEXEAS  INTO  HADES.  141 

raphy.  Cunise  was  a  settlement  of  the  Eubseans,  and  only 
one  of  the  many  Grecian  colonies  that  filled  the  south  of 
Italy,  which,  as  every  person  at  all  acquainted  with  ancient 
geography  knows,  was  called  Grecia  Magna.  That  there 
was  an  extension  of  this  colony  to  Baire,  which  is  quite 
in  its  vicinity,  is  pretty  certain ;  hence  Dion  Cassius  and 
others  called  the  bay  of  this  latter  also  by  the  name  of 
the  former.  In  1822  an  ancient  Greek  sepulchre,  similar 
to  those  of  the  settlement  at  Cuma?,  was  discovered  at  Baise, 
"\vhicn  sustains  the  statement  of  Sfrabo  respecting  the  extent 
of  the  colony.  The  headland,  which  we  are  about  to  exam- 
ine, runs  down  little  more  than  three  miles  at  the  utmost, 
and  is  scarcely  two  miles  across.  The  spot  where  the  poet 
makes  JEneas  land  is  somewhat  less  than  two  miles  north 
from  the  southwestern  point  of  the  promontory,  over  which 
rises  the  hill  now  called  Monte  di  Procida,  and  which,  the 
canon  says,  is  that  described  in  line  234  • 

"And  deathless  fame 
Still  to  the  lofty  cape  consigns  his  name ; " 

and  which  derives  its  name  from  the  burial  of  Hector's 
trumpeter.  The  shore  here  is  free  from  rocks  or  cliffs,  and 
is  a  fine  strand.  Hence  the  description  of  the  arrival  of 
the  strangers,  after  the  loss  of  Palinurus,  is  exceedingly 
appropriate : 

41  He  said  and  wept;   then  spread  his  sails  before 
The  winds,  and   reached  at  length  the  Cuman  shore.  ' 

Turning  to  the  left  from  the  supposed  place  of  landing, 
the  site  of  the  ancient  temple  of  Apollo  is  found,  at  the 
distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  Here  some  remains 
of  a  structure  are  still  discovered.  Still  the  spot  is  called 
Procea  di  Cuma,  and  the  peasants  call  the  hill  which  rises 
here  Monte  di  Cuma.  The  poet  has  certainly  embellished 
the  temple  erected  in  a  remote  antiquity,  with  sculpture 
worthy  of  a  better  age.  Yet  it  is  astonishing  to  find  from 
unequivocal  proof,  furnished  by  undoubted  works  of  these 


142  DESCENT  OF  ^NEAS  INTO  HADES. 

early  times,  the  progress  which  had  been  even  then  made 
in  the  arts  in  those  regions.  I  have  seen  frescoes  which 
had  been  nearly  three  thousand  years  executed,  and  which 
were  overwhelmed  with  rubbish  during  the  greater  por- 
tion of  that  time,  as  clear,  as  vivid,  and  as  accurate  in 
the  outlines  of  the  figures  as  many  which  would  be  admired 
as  good  productions  at  this  day.  That  this  temple  was 
erected  long  before  the  arrival  of  JEneas  in  Italy,  there  is- 
great  reason  .to  believe. 

I  shall  not  here  inquire  concerning  the  Sybil,  but  we 
may,  perhaps,  examine  her  supposed  habitation : 

"A  spacious  cave  within  the  farthest  part 
"Was  hewed  and  fashioned  by  laborious  art 
Through  the  hill's  hollow  sides ;    before  the  place 
A  hundred  doors  a  hundred  entries  grace : 
As  many  voices  issue  :    and  the  sound 
Of  Sybil's  words  as  many  times  rebound." 

The  present  appearance  of  this  cavern  certainly  does  not 
correspond  with  the  description  here  given,  nor  would  the 
description  have  been  at  any  period  perfectly  accurate.  Much 
must  have  been  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  poet ;  all 
that  the  canon  contends  for,  ought,  I  think,  to  be  willingly 
conceded,  which  is,  that  the  poet  led  his  hero  by  this  route 
to  the  nether  world.  To  any  person  who  has  seen  the 
Capitol  of  Rome,  the  Tarpeian  Rock,  the  Forum  of  Trajan, 
the  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  or  any  of  the  excavations 
by  which  the  "Via  Sacra"  has  been  disclosed,  little  need 
be  said  to  show  how  the  accumulation  of  centuries  will  fill 
up  hollows  and  reduce  the  elevations  of  precipices. 

This  spot  is  only  a  few  miles  from  the  tomb  of  Virgil,, 
and  the  poet  must  have  frequently  strayed  along  this  shore. 
Nearly  two  thousand  years  have  passed  away  since  he 
observed  the  place,  and  then  it  was  at  least  a  thousand 
years  after  the  excavation  had  been  made ;  and  he  who* 
had  been  accustomed  to  examine  such  works,  and  who  gen- 
erally was  exact  in  his  descriptions,  could  at  that  time 
form  a  better  idea  of  what  this  excavation  was.  The  canoi> 


DESCENT  OF  JEN E AS  INTO  HADES. 

thinks  he  only  gives  us  the  round  number  one  hundred 
for  several,  and  conformed  to  the  ordinary  notion  that  the 
cave  was  the  residence  of  some  supernatural  or  inspired 
being,  and  thus  easily  made  it  the  dwelling  of  the  Sibyl. 

The  substance  of  an  interesting  archaeological  dissertation 
which  he  gives,  is  that  this,  like  many  other  caverns  gen- 
erally thought  to  be  natural,  is  in  truth  artificial.  Such 
clearly  was  Virgil's  opinion :  "  Excisum  latus  ingens  in 
antrum," — that  the  cave  was  cut  into  the  side  of  the  rock. 
To  sustain  this  position,  the  canon  brings  us  to  contem- 
plate the  customs  of  the  first  Grecian  settlers,  which  indeed 
were  similar  to  those  of  others  similarly  circumstanced. 
Scarcely  landed,  the  first  two  objects  they  sought  were  a 
dwelling-place  and  security.  No  spot  on  the  Cumsen  coast 
offered  a  more  convenient  location  for  the  purpose  than 
this — the  only  rock  which  is  near  that  part  of  the  shore. 
Their  usual  mode  was  to  build  with  stone,  an<l  for  this 
the  rock  afforded  material;  its  elevation  was  convenient  for 
security,  and  this  would  be  greatly  increased  by  so  clearing 
away  the  projections  of  the  cliff  as  to  make  it  perpendicular, 
at  least  on  two  or  three  sides.  By  the  process  of  paring 
it  off  in  this  manner,  they  were  also  furnished  with  stone 
for  building.  They  were  a  patient  and  persevering  race, 
and  though  emigrants,  they  had  not  the  insatiable,  migratory 
spirit  of  many  of  our  pioneers.  Leaving  one  habitation, 
they  determined  to  fix  upon  another  as  permanent. 

Hence  they  made  preparations  for  centuries  "of  residence, 
as  they  built  for  a  progeny  through  whose  generations  they 
considered  themselves  about  to  live. 

After  having  given  to  the  rock  its  faces,  they  proceeded 
from  the  summit  to  perforate  to  its  bosom,  and  having 
descended  to  a  sufficient  depth,  they  excavated  several  large 
chambers  for  the  double  purpose  of  procuring  materials  and 
of  creating  a  citadel  and  a  store-house.  Here,  too,  they 
penetrated  to  the  living  waters,  so  that  no  enemy  should 
be  able  to  cut  off  a  supply.  From  the  interior  they 
wrought  long  passages  towards  the  sides,  and  at  the  extrem- 


144  DESCENT  OF  AENEAS  INTO  HADES. 

ities  they  made  loopholes  through  which  they  might  receive 
.air  and  some  light  and  be  able  also  to  reconnoitre  and  to 
.annoy  an  enemy 

It  is  acknowledged  by  all  respectable  antiquarians  that 
such  was  the  origin  of  numerous  excavations  in  rocks 
spread  through  the  south  of  Italy,  and  of  many  elsewhere. 
Martorelli,  upon  the  authority  of  Strabo  and  Ephorus, 
maintains  that  several  of  these  were  excavations  in  search 
of  ore.  In  most  of  these  citadels  there  was  a  temple, 
and  generally  the  shrine  of  some  prophet  or  prophetess 
was  in  the  most  retired  part  of  the  cavern. 

In  the  time  of  Virgil  several  of  these  loopholes  were 
considerably  enlarged,  and  the  earth  had  been  gradually 
raised  around  the  rock,  so  that  the  former  windows  now 
became  so  many  entrances  to  the  interior,  which  had  prob- 
ably been  once  famous  as  the  shrine  of  some  pythoness  or 
perhaps  of  the  great  Sibyl  herself.  At  this  day  some  of 
those  apertures  exist,  though  the  rock  is  nearly  level  with 
the  surrounding  accumulation  of  earth.  We  have  the  accounts 
of  St.  Justin  the  martyr  and  of  Agatius  the  historian, 
describing  this  cave. 

In  1787  Carletti  says  he  got  nearly  lost  in  its  laby- 
rinths ;  but  that  he  saw  the  remains  of  the  temple  and 
pieces  of  mosaic  work  at  a  spot  where  several  passages 
united.  Jorio  himself,  in  1811,  went  through  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  it,  accompanied  by  a  guide ;  he  remained 
two  hours,  and  found  some  human  remains,  which  so  ter- 
rified his  companions  that  they  could  not  be  induced  by 
threats  or  promises  to  go  forward. 

So  far,  then,  we  have  the  description  accurate  in  its 
principal  features,  but  highly  embellished  by  imagination. 

At  the  entrance  of  this  cavern,  the  hero  of  the  poem  is 
admonished  to  seek  for  the  information  that  he  desired, 
and  having  obtained  as  much  as  the  poet  thought  conven- 
ient to  communicate,  he  requests  to  be  taught  the  way  to 
the  infernal  regions. 

The   lake   known   as   Logo   di   Averno   is   little   more   than 


DESCENT  OF  &NEAS  INTO  HADES.  145 

half  a  mile  east  of  this  cavern,  but  at  the  time  Virgil 
wrote,  the  country  was  more  thickly  wooded  than  it  is  at 
present,  and  it  was  still  more  so  at  that  earlier  period  which 
the  poet  has  selected,  nor  was  the  lake  to  be  approached 
in  a  direct  line ;  hence  the  canon  supposes  that  the  path 
to  the  spot  which  he  indicates  as  "fauces  Averni,"  must 
have  wound  along  the  valley  which  lies  between  the  rock 
we  have  been  describing  and  the  high  and  rugged  ground 
which  surrounds  the  lake.  The  Trojan  leader,  in  pursuing 
this  course,  would  have  increased  the  distance  round  the 
northern  part  of  the  lake,  to  arrive  at  its  opposite  side, 
nearly  three  miles,  and  this  journey  was  to  be  made  through 
a  forest. 

"Betwixt  those  regions  and  our  upper  light, 
Deep  forests  and  impenetrable  night 
Possess  the  middle  space." 

In  studying  the  topography,  we  have  no  concern  with 
either  the  death  or  burial  of  Misenus,  nor  with  the  manner 
in  which  JEneas  obtains  the  golden  bough  which  was  to 
insure  his  return  to  the  realms  of  day;  neither  need  we 
witness  the  sacrifice. 

Little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  southeast  of 
the  Lago  di  Averno  is  the  Lago  Lucrino,  or  ancient  Lucrine 
Lake,  so  famous  for  producing  some  of  the  luxuries  for 
Roman  tables,  as  also  for  the  naval  purposes  to  which  it 
was  destined  by  Octavianus,  and  generally  for  its  being  more 
appropriate  to  recreation  than  to  the  fears  of  those  who  dwelt 
or  sojourned  at  Baia3.  A  deep  valley  passed  from  the  Lake 
Avernus  towards  the  Lucrine.  And  in  this  valley  the  canon 
supposes  that  the  doves  led  the  hero  to  pluck  the  golden 
bough. 

"Thus  they  led  him  on 

To  the  slow  lake :   v  hose  baneful  stench  to  shun 
They  winged  their  flight  aloft;    stopping  low, 
Perched  on  the  double  tree  that  bears  the  golden  bough; 
Through  the  green  leaves  the  glittering  shadows  glow." 

10 


146  DESCENT  OF  JESEAS  INTO  HADES. 

The  branch  having  been  delivered  to  the  Sibyl  and  the 
last  rites  paid  to  the  body  of  Misenus,  we  find  JEneas  and 
the  prophetess  already  still  farther  south  than  the  spot  to 
which  the  doves  had  led  him  to  obtain  his  passport.  A. 
large  cavern  here  extends  from  Avernus  nearly  to  the  Lucrine 
Lake;  at  present  it  is  seldom  passable  in  summer,  but  it  is 
opened  occasionally  in  winter,  and  the  entrance  at  the  north 
was  formerly  quite  overshadowed  by  woods.  This  has  been 
appropriately  selected  by  the  poet  as  the  entrance  to  the 
infernal  regions. 

"  Deep  was  the  cave  and  downwards  as  it  went 
From  the  wide  mouth,  a  rocky,  rough  descent; 
And  here,  the  access,  a  gloomy  grove  descends, 
And  here  the  unnavigable  lake  extends, 
O'er  whose  unhappy  waters,  void  of   light, 
No  hird  presumes  to  steer  his  airy  flight; 
Such  deadly  stenches  from  the  depth  arise,  5 

And  steaming  sulphur,   that  infects  the  skies. 
From  hence  the  Grecian  bards,  their  legends  make, 
And  give  the  name  Avernus  to  the  lake." 

The  sacrifice  having  been  oifered,  the  awful  portents  being 
manifest,  ^Eneas  is  warned  to  draw  his  sword  and  to  advance 
into  the  cavern,  whither  his  guides  had  already  rushed. 
This  the  poet  calls  "primse  fauces  Orci,"  the  first  jaws  of 
Orcu?.  The  poetical  description  of  the  beings  who  occupied 
this  cavern  is  one  of  the  best-imagined  and  best-wrought 
productions  of  Virgil;  but  this  is  not  the  place  to  dilate 
upon  its  appropriate  excellence. 

Issuing  from  the  southern  aperture  between  you  and  the 
Lucrine  Lake,  even  at  this  day,  elms  are  abundant,  but 
formerly  they  were  larger,  more  numerous,  and  thickly 
entangled.  The  path  is  in  a  narrow  ravine.  On  either 
hand  were  caverns,  many  of  which  were  the  dens  of  wild 
animals  and  the  abode  of  serpents.  In  several  places  the 
earth  has  fallen  in,  and  the  caves  are  choked,  but  still  some 
are  visible  on  either  hand ;  and  the  canon  thinks  it  very 
likely,  that  about  the  period  when  Virgil  wrote,  this  might 


DESCENT  OF  AENEAS  INTO  HADES.  147 

have  served  as  a  menagerie  for  the  parties  who  rusticated 
near  the  ancient  Puteoli  or  at  Baise.  In  either  case,  the 
poet  had  the  groundwork  upon  which  his  imagination  could 
well  indulge  itself.  The  cavern  is  at  present  called  Bagno 
della  Sibilla,  and  the  stabula  ferarum  in  f&ribus  exhibit 
to  us  the  dwelling-places  of  the  hideous  forms  that  besiege 
the  door  and  have  their  dens  in  its  vicinity,  and  the  elm 
with  its  dusky  arms  has  to  this  day  remained  and  made 
manifest  the  principle  to  which  I  have  alluded. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  Trojan  chief,  it  will 
be,  perhaps,  not  amiss  to  examine  briefly  an  assertion  of  our 
learned  commentator,  that  the  Styx  is  not  specially  described 
by  the  poet,  but  that  where  the  expression  does  occur  in  this 
sixth  book  it  is  but  a  general  designation,  not  a  particular 
appellation  of  an  infernal  river.  We  have,  it  is  true,  five 
lakes  within  the  compass  of  this  peninsula,  and  there  were 
five  rivers  of  the  shadowy  regions.  Avernus  is  too  plainly 
marked  to  allow  a  doubt  of  its  identity;  the  Fusaro  and  the 
Acquimarta  will  be  easily  recognized  as  the  Acheron  and  the 
Cocytus;  the  context  and  other  circumstances  will  lead  us  to 
the  Maremorto  as  Lethe,  and  the  Lucrine  Lake  alone  would 
remain  as  the  Styx.  This  river  was  said  to  be  the  daughter 
of  Ocean  us ;  every  classic  reader  is  aware  that  in  the  days 
of  Homer,  and  even  in  those  of  Virgil,  the  Bay  of  Pozzuoli 
and  the  contiguous  waters  were  known  as  the  ocean,  and 
when  it  was  agitated  by  storms,  the  sea  which  rolled  into 
this  bay  broke  more  easily  over  the  low  grounds,  and  rushed 
more  forcibly  through  the  communication  with  the  Lucrine 
Lake ;  so  that,  in  fact,  it  was  in  calm  times  comparatively 
dry,  until  the  rushing  in  of  the  ocean  filled,  enlarged,  and 
made  it  permanent.  But  Jorio  says  that  Virgil  had  too 
much  taste  to  say  to  the  ladies  and  epicures  of  Rome  that 
this  Avas  the  infernal  Styx  —  hence,  that,  through  the  entire 
of  this  book  the  word  is  to  be  taken  in  its  general  and  not 
in  its  particular  acceptation,  and  a  review  of  the  several 
passages  will  show  us  nothing  incompatible  with  this  opinion. 
It  is  mentioned  seven  times,  besides  the  particular  passage 


148  DESCENT  OF  AENEAS  INTO  HADES. 

which    seems    to    me    to    create   the   greatest   difficulty.     First 
the  prophetess  says  to  JEneas: 

"But  if  so  dire  a  love  your  soul  invades 
As  twice  below  to  see  the  trembling  shades, 
If   you  so  hard  a  toil  will  undertake 
As  twice  to  pass  the  unnavigable  lake." 

"  This  done,  securely  take  the  destined  way 
To   find  the  regions  destitute  of   day." 

"With  holocausts  he  Pluto's  altar  fills." 

"  Without  whose  aid  you  durst  not  undertake 
This  frightful  passage  o'er  the  Stygian  lake." 

"Now  nearer  to  the  Stygian  lake  they  draw, 
Whom  from  the  shore  the  surly  boatman  saw — 
Observed  their  passage  through  the  shady  wood, 
And  marked  their  near  approaches  to  the  flood." 

''Know  this  the  realm  of    night,  the  Stygian  shore, 
My  boat  conveys  no  living  body  o'er." 

"But  fate  forbids;    the  Stygian  floods  oppose,. 
And  with  nine  circling  streams  the  captive  soul  enclose."1 

Of  those  passages,  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  clearly 
have  the  expression  general.  The  great  difficulty  would  be 
to  reconcile  the  323d  line  and  the  general  statement  of  the 
ancients  respecting  the  oath  of  the  gods,  with  the  opinion 
of  Canon  Jorio,  before  we  could  say  that  in  the  first,  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  passages,  the  expression  was  also  general. 

The  expression  of  the  Sybil  appears  to  me  not  only 
exceedingly  distinct,  but  points  to  a  special  circumstance 
respecting  the  Styx,  than  which  there  is  not  in  all  mythology 
one  better  and  more  precisely  understood. 

"Son  of  Anchises,  offspring  of   the  gods, 
The  Sibyl  said,   'you  see  the  Stygian  floods, 
The   eacred  streams  which  heaven's  imperial  state 
Attest  in  oaths,  and  fear  to  violate.' "  * 

>The  following  nro  the  verses  cited:   154,  C57,  3C8,  388,  391,  438. 


DESCENT  OF  JEN E AS  INTO  HADES.  149 

If,  however,  we  will  suppose  that  Virgil,  like  most  other 
poets,  used  freely  the  privileges  to  which  he  was  entitled, 
Ave  may  then  take  the  Lucrine  Lake  for  the  Styx.  The 
traveller  passing  the  ferarum  stabula,  after  emerging  from 
the  grotto  of  Avernus,  leaving  this  on  his  left,  proceeds  by 
what  is  known  as  the  Scaiandrone,  towards  Lago  del 
Fusaro — called  by  Virgil  the  Palus  Acherusia  or  "Ache- 
rontis  ad  undas." 

JEneas  and  the  Sibyl,  having  now  passed  through  the  dark 
grotto  which  lies  between  the  Lago  d'Averno  and  the  vicinity 
of  the  Lucrine  Lake,  had  issued  from  the  cave  into  that 
region  which  we  may  now  consider  as  the  "Infernal." 

From  the  southern  aperture  of  this  cavern  there  are  three 
roads  —  one  on  the  left  hand  leads  in  a  northeast  direction 
to  Pozzuoli  and  Solfatara ;  with  this  we  have  no  concern ; 
another,  southward  of  east,  leads  to  the  Lago  Lucrino  and 
the  Gulf  of  Pozzuoli,  the  ocean  of  the  ancients ;  whilst 
another,  nearly  south,  leads  to  the  Lakes  of  Fusaro  and 
Aquamorta,  which  are  not  a  furlong  apart,  and  not  more 
than  a  mile  from  the  cavern  of  Avernus,  called  still  Bagno 
della  Sibilla.  This  is,  then,  the  only  road  which  leads  to  a 
spot  whence  a  view  might  be  had  of  the  two  lakes,  and  is, 
therefore,  well  described  in  line  295 : 

"Hence  to  deep  Acheron  they  take  their  way, 
Whose  turbid  eddies,  thick  with  ooze  and  clay, 
Are  whirled  aloft  and  in  Cocytus  lost." 

The  relative  position  of  the  two  lakes,  neither  of  which 
is  large,  but  that  of  the  Aquamorta  much  the  smaller, 
produces  even  to-day  the  same  effects  that  are  described. 
When  by  the  overflowing  of  the  sea  or  any  other  cause, 
the  Lago  del  Fusaro  is  overcharged,  it  pours  a  flood  of 
turbid  water,  thick  with  filth  and  sands,  into  the  Aquamorta 
or  Cocytus,  which  is  one  of  the  most  pestilential  little 
mud-holes  in  this  vicinity. 

The  present  road  from  the  Lucrine  Lake  to  that  of 
Fusaro  leads  towards  the  northern  extremity  of  the  latter, 


150  DESCENT  OF  ^NEAS  INTO  HADES. 

and  gives  no  opportunity  of  seeing  both  the  supposed 
Acheron  and  Cocytus  from  one  point.  Jorio,  however,  gives 
sufficient  reasons  to  show  that  the  ancient  road,  which  existed 
in  the  time  of  Virgil,  had  a  different  direction,  and  led  to 
a  small  elevation  less  than  a  furlong  distant  from  the 
southeastern  border  of  the  Acheron,  whence  they  are  both  fully 
visible,  and  where  the  Sibyl  might  very  properly  have  said : 

"Cocyti  stagna  alta  vides,  Stygiamque  paludem;"1 

and,  indeed,  the  lake  of  Fusaro  may  this  day,  as  well  as 
nineteen  centuries  ago,  be  properly  called  palus,  as  the 
Aquamorta  is  most  aptly  designated  by  the  expression  stagna. 
Upon  the  borders  of  the  Lake  of  Fusaro,  the  poet  placed 
those  whom  he  described  as 

"The  ghosts  rejected  are  the  unhappy  crew, 
Deprived  of  sepulchres  and  funerals   due." 

The  crowd  here  is  very  great,  and  amongst  them  is  the 
lost  Palinurus,  who  most  pathetically  implores  to  be  relieved, 
by  having  his  obsequies  performed,  and  receives  the  assur- 
ance from  his  former  chieftain  that  a  day  will  come  when 
the  rites  shall  be  paid,  and  his  name  honorably  transmitted 
to  future  ages. 

At  the  present  day,  you  will  easily  find  a  boatman  who, 
occupying  a  bark  at  the  spot  which  our  canon  believes  to 
l)e  the  same  which  Virgil  assigned  to  Charon,  will  convey 
the  traveler  across ;  though  this  ferryman  must  receive  a 
larger  fee  than  the  tariff  which  Pluto  fixed  as  a  sufficient 
remuneration  for  the  grisly  boatman  of  former  centuries. 
However,  all  this  is,  perhaps,  just,  because  the  modern 
tourist  will  be  treated  with  more  civility,  and  is  certainly 
more  weighty  than  a  ghost. 

Having  crossed  the  lake  at  a  place  where  it  is  some- 
thing less  than  a  half-mile  in  width,  you  land  at  less  than 
that  distance  from  the  sea,  and  upon  soil  which  this  day 
answers  the  description  given  by  the  poet : 

"His  passengers  at  length  are  wafted  o'er, 
Exposed  in  muddy  weeds  upon  the  miry  shore."* 

1  Line  833.  *  Lino  415. 


DESCENT  OF  ^NEAS  INTO  HADES.  151 

Turning  to  the  north  from  this  spot,  the  lake  is  on  the 
left  hand,  and  the  sea  within  a  little  more  than  a  fur- 
long on  your  right,  and  the  high  headland  of  Monte  di 
Procida  rises  with  abrupt  rocks  before  you.  But  not  more 
than  one  hundred  yards  in  front  of  you,  is  the  little  hill 
of  Torre  della  Gaveta,  quite  near  the  shore  and  the  mouth 
of  the  stream  which  communicates  between  the  Lago  del 
Fusaro  and  the  sea.  Here,  in  a  hill,  is  a  cavern,  cut  by 
the  early  Greek  settlers,  to  form  this  communication  between 
the  lake  and  the  Mediterranean.  It  has  frequently,  how- 
ever, its  channel  so  choked  with  sand  that  it  becomes 
necessary,  in  the  end  of  the  spring,  to  clear  and  deepen 
the  passage.  In  this  also  winds  and  waters  frequently 
make  a  fitful  noise,  and  this  was  the  fancied  abode  of 
Cerberus : 

"  No  sooner  landed  in  his  den  they  found 
The  triple  porter  of   the  Stygian  sound, 
Grim  Cerberus." ' 

Having  given  to  him  his  sop,  and  finding  him  now 
spread  powerless  in  sleep : 

"The  keeper  charmed,  the  chief,  without  delay, 
Passed  on  and  took  the  irremeable  way." 

The  stream  here  may,  without  any  great  stretch  of  im- 
agination, be  called  "  not  to  be  repassed ; "  for  it  is  not 
by  this  path  our  hero  returns. 

Going  forward,  the  traveler  now  ascends  the  hill  upon 
which  the  tower  of  Gaveta  is  built,  and  as  he  descends 
towards  the  southeast,  he  enters  a  valley  which  the  poet 
describes  in  the  succeeding  lines : 

"Before  the  gates  the  cries  of   babes  new-born, 
Whom  fate  had  from  their  tender  mothers  torn, 
Assault  his  ears;    then  those  whom  form  of   laws 
Condemned  to  die  when  traitors  judged  their  cause."  * 

It  would  be  -curious  and  instructive  here  to  enter  upon 
the  examination  of  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  schools, 

i  Line  417.  *  Line  434.  »  Line  426. 


152  DESCENT  OF  JEN E AS  INTO   HADES. 

especially  that  of  Plato,  concerning  the  future  state ;  particu- 
larly as  Virgil,  throughout  his  book,  gives  a  beautiful  exem- 
plification of  the  opinions  of  that  celebrated  philosopher.  Hav- 
ing ascertained  what  those  doctrines  were,  the  next  step  would 
be  to  trace  their  origin ;  to  see  the  sources  whence  he  derived 
his  information ;  to  find  how  much  of  his  knowledge  he 
drew  from  the  sacred  volumes  of  the  chosen  people  of 
God,  and  from  the  original  traditions  given  by  the  patri- 
archs, of  the  information  directly  received,  concerning  the 
other  world,  from  God  himself,  by  Adam,  by  Seth,  by 
Enos,  by  Noe,  by  Abraham,  and  others ;  to  view  the  addi- 
tions and  the  changes  which  mythology  had  introduced,  and 
to  see  what  beautiful  imagery  the  mind  of  the  poet  spread 
through  the  description ;  but  this  is  not  our  present  object. 
The  valley  here  is  just  such  as  you  would  consider  calculated 
to  fill  the  helpless  babes  with  terror,  and  to  minister  to 
the  pensive  feelings  of  the  innocent  victims  of  mistaken 
justice. 

Jorio  informs  us,  to  sustain  the  accuracy  of  his  remarks, 
that  if  you  inquire  of  the  peasants  who  inhabit  Monte  di 
Procida,  and  particularly  that  part  called  Cappo  Vecchie, 
marked  by  the  ruins  of  Roman  buildings,  where  is  the  road 
de  V inferno,  they  will  bring  you  by  the  winding  road  to  the 
descent  on  the  side  of  this  outlet  of  Fusaro,  by  the  tortu- 
ous paths  going  down  from  crag  to  crag — they  will  lead 
you  to  the  entrance  of  this  valley,  and  thence  through  it, 
by  the  very  way  which  I  am  about  to  describe. 

He  places,  after  describing  the  tribunal  of  Minos,  the 
unfortunate  suicides  in  the  next  location  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  Aquamorta,  or  Cocytus.  We  have  then  the 
description : 

"Not  far  from  thence  the  mournful  fields  appear, 
So  called  from  lovers  that  inhabit  there ; 
The  souls  whom  that  unhappy  flame  invades, 
In  secret  solitude  and  myrtle  shades 
Make  endless  moans,  and  pining  -with  desire 
Lament,  too  late,   the  unextinguishecl  fire."* 

i  Line  440. 


DESCENT  OF  AENEAS  INTO  HADES.  153 

After  describing  a  number  of  the  unhappy  victims  who 
dwell  in  this  dismal  region,  JEneas  is  brought  to  meet  the 
wretched  Dido,  who  treats  him  with  fixed  dislike  and 
deserved  scorn.  These  plains  stretch  forward  better  than  a 
furlong,  a  little  south  of  east  from  the  Aquamorta,  and 
the  canon  brings  to  our  view  the  mythological  statement 
that  the  waters  of  the  Cocytus  were  increased  by  the  tears 
of  unfortunate  lovers,  which  adds  to  the  evidence  of  the 
poet's  precision  and  to  the  probability  of  the  canon's 
opinion. 

In  the  last  stage  of  this  region,  he  places  the  warriors, 
and  takes  occasion  to  describe  several  of  those  famed  for 
prowess  in  the  Trojan  war,  and  to  introduce  the  beautiful 
but  concise  history  of  Deiphobus,  with  its  instructive  moral. 

We   now    come   to   a   spot   which   the  poet  thus  describes : 

"'Tis  here  in  different  parts  the  way  divides. 
The  right  to  Pluto's  golden  palace  guides, 
The  left  to  that  unhappy  region  tends, 
Which  to  the  depth  of  Tartarus  descends, 
The  seat  of  night's  profound  and  punished  fiends." 

This  spot  is  little  more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  Aqua- 
morta, and  at  present  the  road  divides ;  on  your  left, 
advancing  in  the  way  which  leads  from  the  supposed  cave 
of  Cerberus.  When  you  come  to  this  division,  you  see  a 
region  which  is  fitted  to  suggest  the  idea  given  of  Tartarus 
by  the  poet;  and  keeping  the  line  to  your  right,  you 
would  arrive  at  those  regions  that  he  calls  Elysium.  To 
the  left  is  a  region  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Acheru- 
sian  Lake  and  the  muddy  and  pestilential  Cocytus,  while 
the  sterile  region  leading  to  the  den  of  beasts  stretches 
on  before  you.  Several  critics  have  ridiculed  the  notion 
that  there  could  have  been  in  this  vile  and  deserted  spot 
anything  to  suggest  to  Virgil  the  existence  of  the  city  of 
the  damned,  such  as  he  describes  it  in  this  sixth  book. 
But  suppose  there  was  nothing  which  bore  an  actual  resem- 
blance to  the  place  described,  still  it  is  properly  urged 

i  Line  540. 


154  DESCENT  OF  ^NEAS  INTO  HADES. 

that  at  least  this  much  latitude  should  be  fairly  allowed 
to  the  bard,  that  he  might  place  an  imaginary  city  on  the 
spot.  Yet  we  will  not  content  ourselves  with  this  answer. 
It  can  be  easily  shown  that  in  this  region  are  to  be  found 
many  of  the  materials  from  which  such  a  city  could  be 
•constructed,  and  that  there  was  in  former  days  a  city  upon 
the  very  site.  Let  us,  however,  look  at  the  description: 

The  hero,  looking  to  the  left,  espied 
A  iOfty  tower,  and  strong  on  every  side, 
With  treble  walls,  which  Phlegethon  surrounds, 
Whose  fiery  flood  the  burning  empire  bounds, 
And  pressed  betwixt  the  rocks,  the  bellowing  noise  resounds." ' 

In  the  first  place,  this  whole  region  is  in  a  great  measure 
volcanic;  and  not  only  here,  but  at  the  other  side  of  the 
Bay  of  Puzzuoli,  the  evidences  of  it  are  abundant.  In  this 
very  spot  are  the  craters  of  two  scarcely  extinct,  though 
small,  volcanoes.  No  very  great  stretch  of  imagination  is 
required  to  view  in  their  flood  of  burning  lava  the  fiery 
stream  of  Phlegethon,  either  roaring  as  it  rushes  between 
xocks,  or  as  it  bears  them  along  tumbling  in  its  torrent, 
creating  an  appalling  noise.  The  peasants  will  this  day 
point  out  what  they  call  Fumarole,  very  distinct  tokens  of 
subterraneous  fires  to  the  west  of  the  Scalandrone,  on  the 
very  site  of  the  city  of  the  damned,  as  described  by  the 
poet.  Homer  informs  us  that  the  Phlegethon  is  discharged 
into  the  Acheron  and  the  Cocytus.  Virgil  was  a  close 
student  of  Homer,  and  his  Phlegethon  would  naturally  flow 
from  the  site  into  the  Lago  del  Fusaro  and  the  Aqua- 
morta.  These  volcanoes  were  probably  much  more  active 
in  the  time  of  Virgil  than  we  find  them  to-day.  Thus, 
the  fiery  stream  was  a  natural  suggestion. 

The  walls  of  the  city  of  Misenus  presented  themselves 
here  also  to  the  observation  of  the  poet.  Even  to-day  you 
•will  find  scarcely  a  space  of  three  hundred  yards  without 
the  ruins  of  some  ancient  Roman  structure,  some  of  them 
of  considerable  extent,  many  of  them  covered  with  strata 

i  Line  548. 


DESCENT  OF  &NEAS  INTO  HADES.  155 

of  volcanic  matter.  You  will  find  several  caves  and  Greek 
and  Roman  sepulchres,  so  that  there  was  sufficient  occasion 
to  lead  the  imagination  to  a  subterraneous  fiery  prison,  the 
entrance  to  which  was  in  a  citadel  surrounded  by  a  naming 
river.  This  was  the  Tartarean  region,  or  the  hell  of  the 
poet,  which  was  exhibited  to  his  hero,  but  into  which  he 
did  not  enter.  The  fortress  was  impregnable,  and  from  it 
issued  the  cries  of  the  tortured.  His  guide  informed  him 
of  the  mode  of  judgment  and  the  dire  infliction  of  ven- 
geance ;  and  the  hero  saw  the  gates  open,  so  as  to  enable 
him  to  describe  the  terrific  disclosures  that  were  thus  made, 
and  to  convery  the  detail  to  those  who  had  not  been  privi- 
leged as  he  was. 

**  The  gaping  gulf   low  to  the  centre  lies. 
And  twice  as  deep  as  earth  is  distant  from  the  skies. 
The  rival  of  the  gods,  the  Titan  race, 
Here  singed  with  lightning  roll  within  the  unfathomed  space."1 

Whoever  has  been  at  the  Grotto  del  Cane  or  in  the  hot 
sulphur  caverns  between  Naples  and  Pozzuoli,  is  perfectly 
aware  of  the  effect  of  the  exhalation  from  this  soil.  Add 
to  this  the  volcanic  matter,  the  ruins  of  ancient  tombs,  the 
occasional  shakings  of  the  earth,  and  some  notions  may  be 
formed  of  the  mythological  relations  of  the  restless  and 
tortured  Titans,  endeavoring  to  rise  and  disturbing  the  soil 
under  which  they  are  buried,  so  as  to  create  those  fissures 
which  emit  the  stench  of  their  brimstone  graves  to  our 
upper  world. 

The  concluding  lines  of  the  poet,  after  the  enumeration 
of  several  of  the  wretched  culprits,  are  beautiful  and  highly 
instructive : 

"Unhappy  Theseus,  doomed  for  ever  there, 
Is  fixed  by  fate  on  his  eternal  chair, 
And  -wretched  Phlegias  warns  the  world  with  cries, 
(Could  warning  make  the  world  more  just  or  wise,) 
Learn  righteousness,  and  dread  the  avenging  deities. 
To  tyrants  others  have  their  country  sold, 
Imposing  foreign  laws  for  foreign  gold. 

I  Line  677. 


156  DESCENT  OF  &NEAS  INTO  HADES. 

Some  have  old  laws  repealed,  new  statutes  made, 

Not  as  the  people  pleased,  hut  as  they  paid. 

With  incest  some  their  daughters'  heds  profaned ; 

All  dared  the  worst  of  ill,  and  what  they  dared,  attained. 

Had  I  a  hundred  mouths,  a  hundred  tongues, 

And  throats  of  brass,  inspired  with  iron  lungs, 

1  could  not  half  those  horrid  crimes  repeat, 

Nor  half  the  punishments  those  crimes  have  met."  * 

This  was  the  Tartarus,  or  hell,  into  which,  as  I  remarked, 
the  hero  did  not  enter,  but  with  a  view  and  description 
of  which  he  was  favored.  The  spot  from  which  it  was 
examined  was  just  beyond  that  described  as  the  division 
of  the  roads,  "  Hie  locus  est  partes  ubi  se  via  findit  in 
ambas,"  and  is  now  called  Croce  via  di  Capella.  At  a  short 
distance  beyond  it,  on  the  road,  is  the  Mercato  di  Sabato, 
where  formerly  stood  a  circus,  which  probably  suggested  to 
the  poet  the  following  description,  given  by  the  priestess: 

"The  walls  of  Pluto's  palace  are  in  view; 
The  gate  and  iron  arch  above  it  stands, 
On  anvils  labored  by  the  Cyclops'  hands."* 

AVe  have  again,  in  a  single  expression  of  the  poet,  an 
admirable  coincidence  with  the  site : 

"She  said,  and  through  the  gloomy  shades  they  passed, 
And  chose  the  middle  path."3 

Just  here,  even  at  this  day,  the  road  branches  into 
three  parts;  that  to  the  right  leads  to  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  Mare  Morto,  where  it  approaches  the  Monte  di 
Procida.  Mythological  writers  inform  us  that  Lethe  touches 
on  the  confines  of  the  infernal  regions,  a  portion  of  which 
was  in  the  ravines  of  this  mountain;  and  thus  we  may 
suppose  this  lake,  which  is  formed  by  an  influx  from  one 
of  the  deep  indentings  of  the  Bay  of  Pozzuoli,  is  the 
fabled  Lethe  itself.  On  the  left,  the  road  leads  towards  the 
Scalandrone,  and  back  to  Averno.  The  Spatium  Medium 
will  lead  to  the  northeastern  shore  of  the  Mare  Morto,  or 
Lethe,  and  here  are  the  Elysian  fields;  for  again  mythology 

J  Line^617.  *  Line  630.  »  Line  683. 


DESCENT  OF  AENEAS  INTO  HADES.  157 

informs  us  that  Lethe  stretched  along  the  borders  of  those 
happy  regions.  This  middle  path,  then,  was  followed  by 
the  Trojan  chieftain,  who  having  performed  the  proper 
lustrations  and  duly  offered  his  golden  bough  by  placing 
it  over  the  portal,  was  admitted. 

The  difference  of  the  soil  and  the  variety  of  productions 
form  here  a  contrast  with  the  gloomy,  the  sterile,  the  vol- 
canic, and  the  rugged  regions  through  which  our  way  had 
lain  before,  and  very  naturally  suggested  to  the  Mantuan 
bard  those  happy  lines : 

"These  holy  rites  performed,  they  took  their  way 
Where  long-extended  plains  of   pleasure  lay. 
The  verdant  fields  with  those  of   heaven  may  vie, 
With  ether  vested  and  a  purple  sky; 
The  blissful  seats  of   happy  souls  below, 
Stars  of  their  own,  and  their  own  sun  they  know."  l 

The  melody  of  the  raptured  poet  now  grows  richer  with 
the  increasing  grandeur  of  the  scene,  and  perhaps  few  de- 
scriptions can  be  found  to  equal  that  which  is  given  in 
his  succeeding  lines.  To  observe  upon  this  is  not,  how- 
ever, our  object.  After  due  inquiry  he  discovers  the  loved 
object  of  his  search ;  their  interview  is  in  the  midst  of 
those  gentle  elevations  and  the  varying  undulations  which 
enrich  this  spot.  The  Platonic  system,  modified  with 
peculiar  diversities  of  the  poet's  own  adoption,  is  beauti- 
fully unfolded — the  mingling  of  the  universal  mind  with 
matter  in  its  various  modifications,  the  death  of  man,  and 
his  judgment.  They  who  escape  Tartarus  are  generally 
doomed  to  a  variety  of  purgations,  according  to  the  stains 
with  which  they  are  disfigured : 

41  E'en    when  those  bodies  are  by  death  resign'd, 
Some  old,  inherent  spots  are  left   behind, — 
A  sullying  tincture  of    corporeal  stains 
Deep  in  the  substance  of    the  soul  remains. 
Thus  are  her  splendors  dimmed  and  crusted  o'er 
With  those  dark  vices  that  she  knew  before. 
For  this  the  souls  a  various  penance  pay, 
To  purge  the  taints  of   former  crimes  away."  * 

» 
i  Line  637.  2  Line  135. 


158  DESCENT  OF  &NEAS  INTO  HADES. 

Of  Elysium  he  proceeds  then  to  say,  after  some  special 
descriptions  of  the  previous  process  of  purgation: 

"And  few  so  cleansed  to  those  abodes  repair, 
And  breathe  in  ample  fields  the  Eoft  Elysian  air." ' 

However,  this  happiness  is  not  to  continue,  for  the 
transmigration  of  souls  forms  a  part  of  the  system : 

"Both  these  thin  airy  throngs  thy  eyes  behold, 
When  o'er  their  heads  a  thousand  years  have  rolled, 
In  mighty  crowds  to  yon  Lethean  flood, 
Swarm  at  the  potent  summons  of  the  God, 
There  deep  the  draught  of   dark  oblivion  drain, 
Then  they  desire  new  bodies   to  obtain, 
And  visit  heaven's  ethereal  realms  again."  a 

Thus,  numbers  who  never  entered  Elysium,  but  were 
detained  in  their  state  of  purgation,  were,  according  to  this 
philosophical  system,  sent  back  with  the  happy  souls  to- 
animate  new  bodies.  After  this  view  of  the  poet's  notion 
of  Elysium,  I  shall  hasten  to  compare  the  few  remaining 
passages  with  the  topography.  At  the  moment  when  An- 
chises  was  discovered  by  his  son,  the  poet  describes  hi* 
situation : 

'•  But  old  Anchises  in  a  flowery  vale 
Reviewed  his  mustered  race,  and  took  the  tale: 
Those  happy  spirits  which,  ordained  by  fate, 
For  future  being  and  new  bodies  wait; 
With  studious  thought  observed  th'  illustrious  throng, 
In  nature's  order  as  they  passed   along. 
Their  names,  their  fate,  their  conduct  and  their  care, 
In  peaceful  senate  and  successful  war." 3 

After  having  gone  forward  from  the  Mercato  di  Sabator 
and  stood  on  one  of  those  pretty  swellings  of  the  ground, 
the  hollows  are  exposed  to  view,  and  we  find  Anchises 
thus  occupied  in  one  of  those  delightful  spots,  at  some 
distance  forward.  The  Mare  Morto  is  also  visible,  with 
its  open  strand  on  the  right;  and  it  was  to  its  banks  that 
they  who  now  pressed  forward  to  re-enter  mortal  existence 

>  Lino  743.  *  L'no  748.  »  Line  C70. 


DESCENT  OF  AENEAS   INTO  HADES. 

* 

were  approaching,  whilst  amongst  them  the  great  father  of 
the  Roman  race  was  surveying  his  future  progeny.  JEneas 
went  quickly  forward  to  him,  to  a  spot  answering  the 
description,  near  the  northeastern  extremity  of  this  lake ; 
and  after  the  first  efforts  to  embrace  his  parent,  Virgil 
informs  us : 

"Now  in  a  secret  vale  the  Trojan  sees 
A  separate  grove,  through  which  a  gentle  breeze 
Pfrays  with  a  passing  breath,  and  whispers  through  the  trees ; 
And  just  before  the  confines  of   the  wood, 
The  gliding  Lethe  leads  her  silent  flood, 
About  the  boughs  an  airy  nation  flew."  * 

And  when  the  visitor  expressed  his  desire  to  know  who- 
they  were,  the  father  answers : 

"The  souls  that  throng  the  flood 
Are  those  to  whom,  by  fate,  are  other  bodies  owed. 
In  Lethe's  lake  they  long  oblivion  taste; 
Of   future  life  secure,  forgetful  of   the  past."4 

Mentioning  a  desire,  which  he  had  long  entertained,  to 
give  to  his  son  the  knowledge  of  his  future  descendants, 
he  proceeds  to  unfold  that  explanation  to  which  I  have 
before  drawn  your  attention,  of  the  process  of  man's- 
existence  and  of  the  Platonic  system. 

It  is  here  to  be  remarked,  that  at  this  day  the  scenery 
at  this  northeastern  part  of  the  lake  is  described  with 
tolerable  accuracy  by  the  passage  which  has  been  quoted 
before  the  last,  if  we  credit  many  who  have  seen  and 
testify  it.  After  the  doctrinal  communication,  if  I  may  so- 
call  it,  Anchises  is  desirous  to  bring  under  his  son's  ob- 
servation the  succession  of  heroes  which  he  had  been  con- 
templating, and  for  this  purpose  the  poet  very  naturally 
caused  him  to  bring  ^Eneas  to  a  more  elevated  spot. 

"Thus  having  said  the  father  spirit  leads 
The  priestess  and  his  son  through  swarms  of   shades, 
And  takes  a  rising  ground  from  thence  to  see 
The  long  procession  of   his  progeny."  * 

i  Line  7  3.  *  Line  713.  '  Line  733. 


160  DESCENT  OF  AENEAS  INTO  HADES. 

&• 

This  is  a  spot  called  Puzzillo,  and  here  the  poet  takes 
opportunity  of  giving,  through  Anchises,  that  splendid  enu- 
meration of  those  sages  and  heroes  whom  he  desired  to 
celebrate,  until  the  catalogue  closes  with  that  sublime  and 
pathetic  exclamation  which  procured  wealth  and  fame  for 
the  writer  : 

"Oh,  couldst  thou  shun  the  dreadful  stroke   of  late; 
Rome  should  in  thee  behold,  with  ravished  eyes, 
Her  pride,  her  darling,  her  Marcellus  rise."1 

A  little  above  Puzzillo  are  the  ruins  of  ancient  vast 
structures,  and  this  day,  in  the  midst  of  them,  is  the 
parish  church  of  St.  Anne,  the  vestibule  of  which  is 
marked  by  the  canon  as  the  spot  where  stood,  in  former 
days,  the  gate  which  was  selected  by  our  poet  as  that  of 
horn.  This  is  on  your  right,  and  a  short  distance  on  your 
left  is  Bacoli,  not  far  from  the  tomb  of  Agrippina  ;  here 
was  the  gate  of  ivory. 

"Two  gates  the  silent  courts  of   sleep  adorn 
That  of   pale  ivory,  this  of   lucid  horn, 
Through  this  pale  visions  take  their  airy  way, 
Through  that  false  phantoms  mount  the  realms  of  day."  * 

The  Sibyl  and  her  companion  having  been  dismissed  by 
Anchises  through  the  ivory  gate, 


"Straight  to  the  ships  uEneas  took  his  way."8 

In  the  very  expression,  "secat  viam,"  the  canon  finds 
evidence  of  correctness  of  his  illustrations,  because  there 
is  a  short  path  from  Bacoli  to  the  spot  where  the  Trojans 
landed,  which  cuts  straight  across  the  peninsula  and  at 
angles  with  the  other  roads  over  which  we  have  gone. 

"Then  steering  by  the  strand  he  plows  the  sea, 
And  to  Caieta's  port  directs  his  way,"  —  4 

which   could   not   have   been   the    case    from    Baise,   which   is 
at   the   opposite    side    of    the    promontory    from    Cuma3   and 

»  Lino  889.  »  Line  893.  «  Lino  899.  «  Line  900. 


DESCENT  OF  JENEAS  INTO  HADES.  161 

within  the  Bay  of  Pozzuoli ;  the  voyage  from  which  would 
require  the  rounding  of  that  cape,  and  certainly  could  not 
be  said  to  go  recto  litore;  whereas,  from  the  coast  at 
Cumai  it  is  a  plain  direct  course,  straight  along  the  shore 
to  Gaeta. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  give  you  the  principal  illus- 
trations exhibited  by  the  learned  Italian  canon,  to  show 
that  in  this,  which  is  amongst  the  finest  books  of  descrip- 
tive poetry  and  splendid  fiction,  the  great  author  was  more 
guided  than  is  generally  imagined  by  a  close  and  patient 
study  of  actual  scenery.  How  far  I  have  succeeded  in 
conveying  his  reasoning,  I  cannot  say;  how  far  I  have 
sustained  my  position,  it  is  for  you  to  judge. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.1 


THAT  it  is  useful  to  set  aside  particular  days  for  the 
celebration  of  great  events,  is  sustained  not  only  by  the 
usage  of  all  nations,  but  by  the  advantages  resulting  from 
that  usage.  Each  succeeding  week  is,  by  divine  institution, 
marked  by  a  day  made  holy.  Man  is  thus  reminded  of 
his  duties  to  his  Creator ;  he  thereon  withdraws  from  the 
bustle  of  worldly  occupation,  he  devotes  himself  to  the 
contemplation  of  his  eternal  destiny,  he  seeks  to  discover 
the  means  whereby  he  may  secure  his  lasting  happiness. 
For  this  purpose  he  revises  his  conduct,  endeavors  to  cor- 
rect his  faults,  to  make  progress  in  virtue,  to  partake  of 
the  benefits  of  religious  observance.  He  also,  by  the 
observance  of  the  day,  gives  encouragement  to  his  com- 
panions, and  trains  up  those  who  depend  upon  him,  and 
who  are  to  succeed  him,  in  an  acquaintance  with  the  great 
principles  which  are  to  direct  their  practice,  so  as  to  per- 
petuate the  service  of  God,  and  to  secure  the  salvation  of 
himself  and  of  others. 

That  great  Being  from  whom  the  precept  for  this  observ- 
ance emanated,  was  well  acquainted  with  our  nature  > 
because  He  formed  us,  and  was  able  to  regulate  and 
to  direct  the  work  of  His  own  hands.  The  law  was 
enacted  to  preserve  in  our  memory  a  recollection  of  our 
duty,  to  enforce  its  obligation  on  the  understanding,  to 
excite  the  will  to  resolve  upon  its  performance,  and  to 
interweave  an  attachment  for  it  with  our  dearest  affections. 

i  Oration  delivered  before  the  Washington  Light  Infantry,  at  their  request.  In 
tho  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  Church  of  St.  Flnbar,  in  the  city  of  Charleston, 
on  the  22d  of  February,  1838,  being  the  thirty-first  anniversary  of  the  Company. 


THE    CHARACTER   OF  WASHINGTON.  163 

But  though  the  religious  homage  of  God  be  our  first  duty, 
it  is  not  our  only  obligation.  Not  only  is  man  destined 
to  be  an  inhabitant  of  heaven,  but  he  is  also  doomed  to 
sojourn  for  a  while  upon  the  earth.  During  that  period 
assigned  for  his  pilgrimage  here  he  is  surrounded  by  many 
cares,  and  subject  to  several  wants,  for  which  he  not  only 
is  bound  to  provide,  but  in  exerting  himself  for  which 
purpose  he'  may  lawfully  seek,  especially  for  those  who  de- 
pend upon  him,  or  with  whom  he  is  connected,  such  a 
measure  of  enjoyment  and  happiness  as  will  gratify  kim 
and  them,  without  endangering  that  more  glorious  inherit- 
ance to  which  we  all  aspire. 

In  his  relation  to  transitory  things,  man  is  liable  to  more 
immediate,  more  vivid,  and  more  lasting  impressions  from 
those  things  which  affect  him  directly  and  personally,  than 
from  those  which  regard  him  but  generally  as  a  member 
of  society,  and  indirectly  through  that  circumstance ;  just 
as  he  is  more  wrought  upon  by  sensible  objects  and  pres- 
ent enjoyments,  than  by  the  invisible  things  of  a  future 
world,  and  by  the  remote  prospects  of  happiness  or  of 
misery.  Yet  it  frequently  happens  in  society,  as  in  religion, 
that  our  true  welfare  depends  infinitely  more  upon  what  is 
least  calculated  to  attract  our  immediate  attention  or  to 
excite  our  first  or  our  warmest  interest.  And  upon  the 
same  principle  that  the  Lord  instituted  His  holy  day,  to 
correct  this  evil  as  regards  religion ;  so  is  it  useful  to 
have  certain  days  set  apart,  to  correct  the  mistakes  of 
human  selfishness,  and  to  convinc3  individuals  that  their 
own  respective  advantages  will  be  better  secured  by  labor- 
ing together  as  members  of  society  to  promote  the  general 
welfare.  Hence,  civil  and  political  festivals,  judiciously  regu- 
lated, are  of  great  advantage  to  the  State  at  large,  and 
consequently  to  the  individuals  who  compose  the  body 
politic. 

That  same  character  of  our  nation,  to  which  I  have 
alluded,  also  shows  that  the  bulk  of  mankind  are  neces- 
sarily more  affected  by  those  objects  that  strike  their  senses, 


164  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

than  by  any  abstract  meditations.  Man  is  not  a  merely 
spiritual  being;  he  sees  through  the  eye,  he  hears  through 
the  ear,  he  tastes  by  the  palate,  and  so  of  the  other  organs 
of  sense.  They  are  the  usual  channels  through  which  his 
soul  is  informed,  impressed,  or  excited,  and  therefore,  by 
a  common  usage  of  our  race,  on  those  festive  occasions, 
there  are  exhibitions  to  the  eye,  information  by  addresses, 
or  excitement  by  music  for  the  ear,  the  indulgence  of  the 
feast,  and  other  devices  of  enjoyment ;  and  all  are  calcu- 
lated, by  a  proper  and  judicious  distribution,  to  produce 
the  happiest  effect  upon  the  mind,  though,  like  every  other 
good,  they  may  be  abused,  and  may  thereby  occasion  the 
most  deplorable  results. 

The  mind,  also,  is  much  more  easily  and  securely 
instructed  by  the  contemplation  of  striking  events  properly 
displayed  before  it,  than  by  any  abstruse  reasoning  or  spec- 
ulative disquisition.  In  this  contemplation,  objects  are  easily 
grasped  by  the  senses  or  apprehended  by  the  imagination, 
and  retained  by  the  memory:  Hence,  festivals  are  not, 
whether  in  religious  or  civil  society,  the  mere  contempla- 
tion of  abstract  principles,  but  the  commemoration  of  events 
in  which  principles  are  practically  and  beneficially  exhibited. 

Man  is  easily  and  powerfully  wrought  upon  by  the  exam- 
ple of  his  fellows.  We  would  derive  little,  if  any,  benefit 
from  attempting  a  philosophical  inquiry  into  the  cause;  it  is 
enough  that  we  know  the  fact;  and  hence  the  public  good 
is  greatly  promoted  by  holding  forth  to  the  world  the  bright 
examples  of  the  benefactors  of  mankind.  Not  only  are  sal- 
utary emulation  and  a  virtuous  ambition  thereby  created, 
but  the  vain  excuses  of  timidity  or  sloth,  when  they  plead 
the  existence  of  insuperable  difficulties  and  the  impossiblity 
of  success,  are  at  once  triumphantly  answered,  by  showing 
what  men  like  ourselves  have  achieved;  and  the  noblest 
human  motives  to  exertion  are  furnished,  by  showing  the 
benefits  which  one  man  may  procure  for  millions.  Whilst 
the  d'eds  of  our  honored  brother  are  recounted,  we  feel  an 
energy  for  whose  origin  we  cannot  indeed  account,  but 


TUB  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.        165 

whose  effects  are  powerful  and  may  be  highly  beneficial. 
Thus  has  the  roll  of  fame  been  inscribed  in  every  age 
and  in  every  nation,  with  the  names  of  the  wise,  of  the 
good,  of  the  learned,  of  the  brave,  of  the  holy,  of  the 
devoted,  of  the  laborious,  of  the  benevolent,  and  of  the 
just.  Temples  have  been  erected,  cities  have  been  named, 
monuments  have  been  raised,  games  have  been  instituted, 
festivals  celebrated,  and  a  variety  of  other  modes  devised,  to 
hold  forth  their  example,  and  to  perpetuate  their  renown. 
But 'in  the  whole  multitude,  I  find  few,  who  in  respect  to 
the  peculiar  end  for  which  he  appears  to  have  been  fitted  by 
Providence,  stands  so  honorably  conspicuous;  not  one  whose 
example  can  be  so  beneficially  held  forth  as  a  lesson  and 
a  model  to  the  citizens  of  our  republics,  as  our  own  Wash- 
ington. And  I  undertake  the  task,  which  you  have  so 
kindly  assigned  me,  with  high  gratification  indeed,  for  the 
honor  you  have  conferred  upon  one  whom  you  have  long 
since  thought  proper  to  enroll  upon  the  respectable  list  of 
honorary  members  of  your  corps,  but  with  a  diffidence 
which  is  as  unfeigned  as  it  is  unusual;  because  the  under- 
taking in  which  I  have  engaged  is  quite  new  to  me,  and 
the  theme  is  as  difficult  as  the  subject  is  elevated. 

Though  I  cannot  attempt  to  delineate  the  character  of 
the  father  of  our  country,  I  shall  endeavor  to  sketch  an 
imperfect  outline,  and  my  deficiency  will  require  all  your 
indulgence. 

The  date  of  his  birth  is  well  known,  the  22d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1732;  and  that  his  family  was  one  of  repute  for  a 
considerable  period  previous  to  the  departure  of  his  ances- 
tors from  England,  as  his  relatives  and  connections  were 
subsequently  amongst  the  most  respectable  in  Virginia. 

1  am  far  from  attributing  merit  to  birth,  but  I  am  by 
no  means  inclined  to  deny  the  general  influence  of  station 
and  society  upon  the  education,  the  sentiments,  and  the 
conduct  of  individuals.  Several  of  the  greatest  men  that 
have  conferred  benefit  upon  the  human  family,  have  steadily 
risen  from  the  humble  position  into  which  they  had  been 


166  TEE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

cast  by  the  obscurity  of  their  origin ;  and  we  have  num- 
berless instances  of  the  degrading  vices,  the  mischievous 
pranks,  the  criminal  courses,  and  the  base  and  unprincipled 
tyranny,  of  not  only  individual  members,  but  of  entire 
progenies  of  the  aristocracy.  Unfortunately,  also,  it  is  but 
too  true,  that  instances  of  the  former  description  are  far 
more  rare  than  of  the  latter.  This,  however,  does  not 
interfere  with  the  position  that  I  would  lay  down ;  which 
is,  that  the  civilized  habits,  the  polite  manners,  the  more 
extended  information,  which  are  generally  found  in  s6me 
classes ;  the  necessity  under  which  their  station  places  them 
of  giving  to  their  children  the  best  education,  and  the 
facilities  which  they  have  of  procuring  it ;  as  well  as  the 
conviction  of  the  child,  that  it  is  only  by  sustaining  him- 
self in  his  place,  by  having  the  manners,  the  conduct,  and 
the  information,  which  are  expected  to  be  found  therein, 
that  he  can  escape  degradation  and  contempt,  form  a  union 
of  powerful  aids  and  incentives  to  improvement.  We  need 
not,  therefore,  distribute  mankind  into  classes  of  different 
blood  and  unlike  nature;  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  conclu- 
sion, that  the  circumstance  of  birth  is  in  many  instances 
favorable  to  the  improvement  of  the  individuals.  So  far 
from  being  injurious  to  our  republican  principles  of  the 
equality  of  citizens,  and  •  tending  to  degrade  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  community,  I  can  consider  it  only  as  giving 
more  merit  to  the  individuals,  who  with  less  favorable 
auspices  have,  by  the  power  of  intellect,  the  adherence  to 
principle,  and  the  application  of  industry,  outstripped  those 
who  had  greater  original  advantages.  I  consider  the  mis- 
chievous concession  to  aristocracy  to  consist  in  attaching 
peculiar  privileges  to  those  born  in  a  particular  family  ; 
but  not  in  the  admission,  that  from  the  peculiarity  of  their 
position  they  have  greater  opportunities  of  improvement. 

George  Washington  was  thus  at  his  earliest  moments 
placed  in  the  most  favorable  position  that  the  circumstances 
of  the  colony  would  allow,  for  the  best  education  that 
could  be  obtained,  from  an  intercourse  with  those  whose 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.       167 

minds  were  cultivated,  whose  principles  were  established, 
and  whose  habits  were  formed  by  a  good  stock  of  knowl- 
edge, by  industrious  pursuits,  and  honorable  occupation. 
The  schools  then  existing  afforded  indeed  but  little  scope 
for  great  progress  in  science.  At  the  period  of  his  father's 
death,  in  1743,  he  could  read,  write,  and  solve  a  consider- 
able number  of  arithmetical  questions ;  and  very  few  schools 
at  that  time  in  the  Southern  country  carried  education  to 
a  higher  grade.  The  character  of  the  mother  is  generally 
sup'posed,  and  I  believe  not  inconsiderately,  to  have  from 
nature,  even  more  than  from  the  force  of  teaching  or  exam- 
ple, a  powerful  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  son. 
As  far  as  we  can  learn,  Washington  was  again  fortunate 
in  this  respect.  This  widow  had  been  a  Miss  Ball,  and 
was  the  second  wife  of  Mr.  Augustine  Washington,  who,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  placed  in  her  a  well-deserved  con- 
fidence of  managing  a  large  property,  chiefly  acquired  by 
his  own  industry,  and  of  superintending  the  education  of 
her  children,  of  whom  George  was  eldest.  She  continued 
to  keep  him  at  school,  and  to  enable  him  to  acquire  such 
information  as  could  there  be  afforded  him. 

At  this  early  period,  he  had  obtained  over  the  minds 
of  his  companions  that  moral  ascendency,  which  through 
life  he  was  enabled  by  the  very  same  principles,  more 
fully  developed  and  more  extensively  applied,  to  gain  over 
his  fellow-citizens  and  to  preserve  to  the  termination  of  his 
life.  His  love  of  discipline  caused  him  to  be  placed  at 
the  head  of  their  little  military  organizations ;  his  probity 
and  judgment  secured  to  his  awards,  as  arbiter  in  their 
differences,  a  ready  and  willing  execution.  His  exercises 
were  such  as  fitted  him  for  activity  and  vigilance,  and  his 
love  for  mathematics  and  attention  to  forms  of  business 
showed  a  fondness  for  order,  a  patience  of  toil,  a  desire 
of  improvement,  and  steadiness  of  purpose  not  often  found 
in  a  youth  of  only  fourteen  years  of  age. 

His  eldest  brother,  Lawrence,  the  first  son  of  Mr.  Wash- 
ington's first  wife,  was  at  this  period  a  respectable  officer 


168  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

in  the  British  forces ;  he  had  served  under  General  Went- 
worth  and  Admiral  Vernon  at  the  siege  of  Carthagena,  and 
he  had  acquired  with  them  some  influence  by  his  correct 
and  gentlemanly  conduct.  Lawrence  was  greatly  attached  to 
his  brother  George;  and  believing,  from  what  he  had  seen 
of  his  capacity  and  habits,  that  he  would  easily  win  his 
way  to  distinction  in  the  British  navy,  procured  for  him, 
through  these  friends,  a  midshipman's  warrant,  in  the  year 
1746.  George,  pleased  with  the  appointment,  was  preparing 
to  enter  into  a  service  that,  if  once  taken  up  by  him, 
would  probably  have  materially  interfered  with  the  progress, 
if  not  the  issue,  of  a  revolution,  which  amongst  the  many 
that  have  shaken  the  nations  within  the  last  century,  stands 
alike  distinguished  for  the  justice  of  its  grounds,  the  mod- 
eration of  its  proceedings,  the  wisdom  of  its  process,  and 
the  success  of  its  results.  A  mother's  authoritative  request 
was  the  mode  through  which  this  difficulty  was  removed, 
by  that  God  who  sweetly  and  powerfully  brings  about  His 
own  wise  purposes,  without  exposing  His  counsels  to  the 
over-curious  scrutiny  of  men. 

We  have  already  seen  in  the  boy  many  traces  of  what 
became  the  character  of  the  man.  The  eye  of  the  artist 
discerns  in  the  block  of  marble  the  fair  proportions  of  the 
concealed  statue ;  the  material  is  precious,  but  much  of  it 
must,  by  patience,  by  attention,  and  by  exquisite  skill,  be 
cut  off  and  pared  away,  before  the  majestic  figure,  which 
he  detects,  can  be  exhibited  to  the  eye  of  an  admiring 
multitude.  Washington  may,  under  God,  be  considered  as 
having  been  fashioned  by  a  special  providence.  At  this  early 
period,  he  had  already  either  laid  down  or  adopted  a  wise 
code  for  the  regulation  of  his  conduct.  This  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  rules,  of  which  Mr.  Sparks,  his  biogra- 
pher, justly  observes:  "Whoever  has  studied  the  character 
of  Washington  will  be  persuaded,  that  some  of  its  promi- 
nent features  took  their  shape  from  these  rules,  thus  early 
selected  and  adopted  as  his  guide."  In  another  place  he 
says  of  some  of  them,  that  they  were  "  fitted  to  soften 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  169 

and  polish  the  manners,  to  keep  alive  the  best  affections 
of  the  heart,  to  impress  the  obligation  of  the  moral  vir- 
tues, to  teach  what  is  due  to  others  in  social  relations,  and 
above  all  to  inculcate  the  practice  of  a  perfect  self-control." 

"In  studying  the  character  of  Washington,  it  is  obvious 
that  this  code  of  rules  had  an  influence  upon  his  whole 
life.  His  temperament  was  ardent,  his  passions  strong,  and, 
amidst  the  multiplied  scenes  of  temptation  and  excitement 
through  which  he  passed,  it  was  his  constant  effort  and 
ultimate  triumph  to  check  the  one  and  subdue  the  other. 
His  intercourse  with  men,  private  and  public,  in  every 
walk  and  station,  was  marked  with  a  consistency  and  fit- 
ness to  occasion,  a  dignity,  decorum,  condescension,  and 
mildness,  a  respect  for  the  claims  of  others,  and  a  deli- 
cate perception  of  the  nicer  shades  of  civility ;  which  was 
not  more  the  dictate  of  his  native  good  sense  and  incom- 
parable judgment,  than  the  fruits  of  long  and  unwearied 
discipline." 

It  would  be  well  if  the  respect  that  is  so  justly  due  to 
the  father  of  his  country,  engaged  its  children  to  adopt 
the  maxims  by  whose  influence  he  became  worthy  of  their 
esteem.  It  would  be  well  if,  in  place  of  encouraging  a 
spirit  of  bad  pride,  of  arrogant  self-sufficiency,  and  per- 
mitting unchecked  rudeness  to  become  a  habit,  under  the 
notion  of  preserving  a  spirit  of  independence,  parents 
would  instill  into  the  minds  of  their  children  such  maxims; 
and  by  the  proper  exercise  of  their  authority  keep  them 
within  the  restraint  of  that  politeness  which  so  peculiarly 
characterized,  perhaps,  the  least  offensive  and  the  most  reso- 
lute man  that  the  eighteenth  century  has  produced. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  entered  upon  the  laborious 
v  duties  of  a  land-surveyor  in  a  wilderness.  The  profession, 
besides  promising  to  be  lucrative,  afforded  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  the  inspection  of  new  lands  and  for  making 
valuable  purchases.  His  first  excursion  was  beyond  the  eastern 
Alleghany  range,  whither  he  went  in  March,  1749,  whilst 
winter  still  held  possession  of  the  summits  of  this  lofty  bar- 


170       THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON. 

• 

xier,  rivers  were  swollen  by  falling  rains  and  melting  snows, 
and  his  path  lay  through  tangled  forests,  abrupt  precipices, 
uninvaded  swamps,  and  in  a  region  where  it  was  a  luxury 
to  find  a  log  hut,  as  a  relief  from  the  inconvenience  of 
the  surveyor's  tent.  Yet  was  this,  in  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence, a  suitable  preparation  for  the  man  who  was  destined, 
at  a  future  day,  to  share  in  the  privations  and  to  direct 
the  movements  of  ill-provided  armies,  in  similar  circum- 
stances; and  this  was  the  very  spot  in  which  he  was 
destined  to  make  his  first  military  movements,  in  the  service 
of  the  colony,  several  years  previous  to  the  Revolution. 
During  the  three  years  that  he  continued  thus  occupied, 
he  had  acquired  a  habit  of  business,  and  established  a 
•character  for  ability  and  integrity;  nor  was  he  estranged 
from  his  family,  for  he  was  sometimes  a  welcome  inmate 
at  the  residence  of  his  eldest  brother,  who  now  dwelt  on 
the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  at  a  farm  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Mount  Vernon,  from  his  affectionate  regard 
to  his  friend  the  admiral,  and  he  also  visited  his  mother, 
whom  he  occasionally  aided  in  the  regulation  of  the  family 
•concerns 

"When  he  had  attained  the  age  of  nineteen,  the  frontiers 
of  Virginia,  which  then  comprised  the  present  State  of 
Kentucky,  were  threatened  by  Indian  depredations  and 
the  encroachments  of  France,  whose  Canadian  possessions 
stretched  along  on  the  west  towards  Louisiana,  and  were 
said  to  include  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  even  Ohio.  The 
colony  of  Virginia  was  laid  off  into  military  districts,  over 
•each  of  which  was  appointed  an  adjutant-general,  with  the 
rank  of  major,  who  was  to  assemble  and  to  exercise  the 
militia,  to  inspect  their  arms,  and  to  enforce  the  disciplinary 
regulations  to  which  they  were  subjected.  "Washington  was 
appointed  to  this  office  in  one  of  the  districts,  and  felt 
that  it  was  now  his  duty  to  acquire  as  perfect  a  knowl- 
edge as  possible  of  the  use  of  weapons,  of  tactics,  and  of 
evolutions.  In  the  society  of  his  brother  and  others,  who 
had  served  in  the  wars,  he  had  sufficient  opportunities. 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  171 

The  death  of  his  brother  increased  his  cares ;  for  the 
confidence  and  affection  of  the  dying  man,  and  the  high 
esteem  in  which  George  was  held  by  the  surviving  mem- 
bers of  the  family  and  their ,  friends,  placed  him,  though 
the  youngest  of  the  executors,  in  the  administration  of  an 
estate  which  was  ultimately,  by  the  arrangement  of  the 
deceased,  to  vest  in  himself.  The  military  organization  of 
the  province  was  changed,  but  Major  Washington's  appoint- 
ment was  renewed;  so  that  he  found  himself,  at  a  period 
when  very  few  think  of  commencing  the  duties  of  life, 
already  at  the  head  of  a  large  property,  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  an  extensive  estate,  loved  by  his  family,  confided 
in  by  the  public  for  his  integrity,  and  entrusted  by  the 
government  with  a  charge  of  nearly  the  first  rank  and  of 
the  highest  importance.  If  we  stop  to  inquire  how  this 
occurred,  AVC  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  discovering;  for 
unceasing  industry,  well-regulated  ambition  of  improvement, 
proper  respect  for  the  established  rules  of  society,  immov- 
able integrity,  patient  endurance  of  toil,  and  self-denial 
which  arose  from  the  determination  to  answer  the  confidence 
that  was  reposed  in  him,  all  united  to  a  systematic  course 
of  conduct  laid  down  and  steadily  followed,  enabled  him  to 
perform  with  facility,  order  and  success  duties  that  would 
have  otherwise  perplexed  by  their  confusion,  overwhelmed 
with  their  weight,  and  destroyed  in  their  ruin,  the  indi- 
vidual who  would  have  rashly  undertaken  them.  Washing- 
ton has  scarcely  attained  to  manhood,  and  yet  his  character 
is  already  formed,  and  is  extensively  and  advantageously 
known.  He  had  labored  greatly,  he  had  endured  much, 
he  had  overcome  many  a  temptation, ^before  he  could  attain 
the  eminence  upon  which  he  already  stood.  Great  efforts 
are,  however,  still  to  be  made,  that  he  may  preserve  his 
position;  but,  habituated  to  labor,  to  combat,  and  to  over- 
come— his  passions  are  in  his  keeping;  there  is  more  need 
of  vigilance  than  of  effort;  but  there  must  be  no  relaxa- 
tion on  the  part  of  him  who  guards  so  wily  and  so  power- 
ful a  foe  as  strong  natural  propensities,  subdued  indeed  and 


172  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

restrained,  but  yet  vigorous,  powerful,  and  seductive.  One 
day's  negligence  may  render  unavailing  all  the  achievements 
of  years. 

What  a  lesson,  my  friends,  is  this  for  the  youth  of  our 
country!  What  an  admonition  for  parents!  Why  have  we 
not  amongst  us  more  men  bearing  this  true  stamp  of  the 
nobility  of  virtue?  Because  the  child  is  too  fond  of 
pleasure,  too  impatient  of  restraint;  because  the  parent  has 
false  notions  of  glorious  independence,  and  fondly  imagines 
that  lost  virtue  may  be  easily  restored;  because  a  weak 
and  miscalculating  fondness  persuades  itself  that  the  bridle 
which  restrains  from,  licentiousness  destroys  that  strength 
which  it  but  directs  to  a  useful  and  a  pleasing  course. 
How  greatly  preferable  is  the  noble  animal,  that,  trained  to 
the  hand,  patiently  submits  to  its  directions,  to  the  untamed 
beast  that  menaces  ruin  to  every  one  who  approaches!  The 
one  smells  the  battle  at  a  distance,  and  proudly  lifts  his 
head,  whilst  he  impatiently  paws  the  ground;  yet  he  rests 
in  his  place,  prepared  but  steady.  He  hears  the  note  of 
preparation  in  the  trumpet's  blast,  and  he  now  looks  for 
the  onset.  At  the  signal,  he  bears  his  rider  in  the  midst 
of  his  companions,  in  safety  and  in  victory,  over  the  ruins 
of  the  broken  host.  He  holds  back  when  he  is  checked; 
he  returns,  fatigued  indeed,  but  not  exhausted;  he  is  nour- 
ished and  cared  for;  he  is  grateful  to  his  attendants,  and, 
before  the  rising  sun,  he  neighs  to  prove  his  desire  for  the 
pursuit  of  the  succeeding  day.  Woe  to  him  who  would 
enter  into  battle  with  the  other!  Should  he  not  be  shaken 
from  his  seat,  or  be  carried  wildly  from  the  face  of  the 
array — he  is  separated  from  his  troop — he  is  borne  power- 
less into  the  thick  of  his  enemies,  where  he  soon  falls,  the 
bewildered  victim  of  his  own  rashness,  and  to  the  fury  of 
those  who  surround  him.  His  corpse  is  found  under  the 
carcass  of  his  worst  enemy.  Even  in  death,  the  cause  of 
his  ruin  is  manifest  to  that  friend  who  would  seek,  under 
shade  of  twilight,  to  render  the  last  rites  to  the  body  of 
his  associate.  What  a  picture  of  the  folly  of  a  parent, 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  173 

and  of  the  ruin  of  a  child!  Call  you  this  glorious  inde- 
pendence ? 

In  truth,  we  have  now  only  to  contemplate  the  character 
thus  formed,  developing  itself  as  circumstances  permit,  and 
becoming  more  fixed  and  better  matured  by  experience. 

Washington's  first  public  mission  was  not  only  of  a 
'highly  confidential  but  of  an  extremely  perilous  nature. 
The  French  had  crossed  the  Northern  Lakes,  which  had 
been  assumed  by  Great  Britain  as  the  natural  boundary 
between  their  respective  colonies.  It  was  suspected  that 
they  sought  to  establish  themselves  upon  the  Ohio.  A 
messenger  had  been  sent  from  Virginia,  in  the  character 
of  an  Indian  trader,  to  visit  the  friendly  tribes  in  that 
quarter,  and  to  procure  accurate  intelligence  of  their  dispo- 
sition and  of  the  French  advances.  He  had  returned 
without  having  fully  accomplished  the  object  for  which  he 
was  employed,  but  bringing  sufficient  information  to  prove 
that  the  fears  expressed  by  •  the  British  cabinet  to  the 
.Governor  of  Virginia  were  well  founded,  and  that  France 
was  disposed  to  establish  posts  within  the  territory  claimed 
by  England.  The  governor  had  been  furnished  with  cannon 
and  ammunition,  to  repel,  if  necessary,  by  force,  any  effort 
of  this  description.  Not  only  was  it  ascertained  that  troops 
had  descended  from  Canada,  but  it  was  found  that  others 
had  ascended  from  New  Orleans,  and  that  it  was  contem- 
plated to  lock  up  the  British  within  a  line  of  posts  ex- 
tending from  the  lakes,  by  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  so 
as  to  secure  at  least  all  the  territory  west  of  this  line  for 
the  crown  of  France.  The  Governor  and  Council  of  Vir- 
ginia resolved,  that  it  would  be  proper,  as  both  nations 
were  at  peace,  to  send  an  officer  to  the  French  commander, 
with  a  request  to  know  by  what  authority  he  had  advanced, 
and  also  to  learn  what  was  his  object.  Major  Washington 
was  selected. 

"He  was  directed  to  proceed  without  delay  to  the  Ohio 
river,  convene  some  of  the  Indian  chiefs  at  a  place  called 
Logstown,  make  known  to  them  the  objects  of  his  visit, 


174  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

and,  after  ascertaining  where  the  French  were  stationed,  to 
request  an  escort  of  warriors  to  be  his  guides  and  safe- 
guard the  rest  of  the  journey.  When  arrived  at  the 
principal  French  post,  he  was  to  present  his  credentials  and 
a  letter  from  the  Governor  of  Virginia  to  the  commandant, 
and  in  the  name  of  his  Brittannic  majesty  to  demand  an 
answer.  He  was  furthermore  to  inquire  diligently,  and  by 
cautious  means,  into  the  number  of  the  French  troops  that 
had  crossed  the  lakes,  the  reinforcements  expected  from 
Canada,  how  many  forts  they  had  erected,  and  at  what 
places,  how  they  were  garrisoned  and  appointed,  and  their 
distances  from  each  other,  and,  in  short,  to  procure  all  the 
intelligence  possible  respecting  the  condition  and  objects  of 
the  intruders. 

"Fortified  with  written  instructions  to  this  effect,  with 
credentials  and  a  passport,  to  which  the  great  seal  of  the 
colony  was  affixed,  he  departed  from  Williamsburg,  the  seat 
of  government  in  Virginia,  on  November  31,  1753.  The 
distance  before  him  to  the  extreme  point  of  his  destination, 
by  the  route  he  would  pursue,  was  about  five  hundred  and 
sixty  miles,  in  great  part  over  lofty  and  rugged  mountains, 
and  more  than  half  of  the  way  through  the  heart  of  a 
wilderness,  where  no  traces  of  civilization  as  yet  appeared." 

With  a  party  of  seven  companions  he  set  forward,  and 
by  climbing,  scrambling,  fording  and  swimming,  as  well  as 
by  riding,  he  reached  the  Monongahela  and  Alleghany,  at 
the  point  where  their  junction  forms  the  Ohio.  His  eye 
soon  discerned  the  peculiar  advantages  consequent  upon  the 
erection  of  a  fort  at  this  spot.  It  was  from  the  erection 
of  this  work  the  colonists  were  driven  in  the  subsequent 
year;  it  was  completed  by  the  French,  and  called  after  the 
name  of  their  Canadian  governor,  Du  Q,uesne ;  subsequently 
retaken  by  Washington,  when  it  was  called  Fort  Pitt,  and 
at  this  day  has  risen  to  the  important  rank  of  an  indus- 
trious city,  Pittsburg.  About  twenty  miles  below  this  fork 
he  called  together  some  Indian  chiefs,  with  whom  he  entered 
into  friendly  relations,  and  formed  the  acquaintance  of 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.       175 

Tanacharison,  or  the  half-king,  who  was  subsequently  his- 
ally  and  companion.  He  thence  proceeded  to  the  French, 
post,  and  was  told  by  the  commander,  M.  de  St.  Pierre, 
in  a  respectful  but  firm  tone,  that  his  troops  could  not 
retire,  for  he  had  received  orders  to  occupy  the  place ; 
that  his  duty  was  obedience,  and  that  discussion  could  be 
had  only  with  those  who  commanded  him.  He  treated  the 
British  envoy  with  hospitality,  and  gave  him  supplies  upon 
his  departure;  yet,  by  some  means,  Major  Washington  found 
many  impediments  to  his  return,  a  considerable  part  of 
which  he  had  to  make  on  foot  with  but  one  companion  > 
carrying  on  his  back  his  knapsack,  containing  some  papers 
and  his  food,  with  a  gun  in  hand,  amidst  falling  snow  and 
over  thickening  ice,  and  having  only  by  great  ingenuity 
and  exertion  escaped  the  treachery  of  some  Indians. 

Upon  his  return  he  delivered  the  answer  of  the  French 
commander,  and  placed  his  own  journal  in  the  hands  of 
the  governor ;  and  it  was  clearly  ascertained  that  a  case 
had  arisen  in  which  force  must  be  repelled  by  force.  This 
journal  was  not  only  printed  in  Virginia,  but  also  by  the 
directions  of  the  English  government  it  was  published  in 
Europe,  and  was  highly  commended  in  each  place.  Major 
Washington  was  appointed  to  command  a  force  of  two- 
hundred  men,  who  were  to  proceed  to  the  Ohio  and  erect 
a  fort  at  the  spot  which  he  had  indicated.  Captain 
Trent  was  appointed  to  command  one  of  the  companies. 
He  was  directed  to  go  forward  and  raise  his  company  by 
enlisting  the  traders  accustomed  to  the  Indians  and  the 
woods ;  to  proceed  to  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,  and  commence 
the  fort.  Washington,  at  Alexandria,  waited  to  assemble 
the  remainder  of  the  troops,  to  organize  them,  to  collect 
supplies  and  to  send  them  forward,  together  writh  the  cannon 
to  be  mounted  in  the  fort. 

The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  upon  its  meeting,  increased 
the  force  to  six  companies,  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Fry,  making  Washington  lieutenant-colonel.  The  British 
government  also  authorized  the  governor  of  Virginia  to  call 


176  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

upon  New  York  for  two  companies  of  continental  troops 
and  upon  South  Carolina  for  one.  The  officers  of  such 
companies  held  their  commissions,  not  from  the  colonial 
government,  but  from  the  crown,  which  caused  them  to 
claim  an  exemption  from  the  authority  of  the  colonial  offi- 
cers, and  to  be  regarded  more  in  the  light  of  an  allied 
or  auxiliary  force,  than  as  men  to  be  commanded.  On  the 
20th  of  April,  1754,  Col.  Washington  arrived  at  Will's 
Creek,  which  was  then  the  border  of  civilization,  with 
three  companies  under  his  command.  Here  he  learned  that 
Captain  Trent's  men  had  been  summoned,  by  an  immensely 
superior  French  force,  to  capitulate  and  retire  from  the 
fort  which  they  were  erecting.  The  French  having  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  it,  in  compliment  to  their  governor 
called  it  Fort  Du  Quesne.  Col.  Fry  had  not  arrived — Wash- 
ington's own  force  was  very  small — a  wilderness  was  before 
him,  with  an  opposing  army  far  more  numerous,  well 
organized,  and  already  habituated  to  the  country,  ready  to 
fall  upon  him,  he  knew  not  at  what  moment  or  in  what 
place.  He  held  a  council  of  war  and  determined  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  erection  of  a  fort  upon  another  spot  on  the 
Monongahela.  Thus,  at  all  events,  would  his  men  be  em- 
ployed, the  bane  of  idleness  be  removed,  and  by  the  con- 
structions necessary  for  their  advance,  a  road  would  be  opened 
for  those  who  would  follow,  whilst  they  themselves  would 
be  at  least  approaching  to  the  attainment  of  their  object. 
He  sent  expresses  to  the  governors  of  Virginia,  Maryland, 
and  Pennsylvania,  advising  them  of  his  situation,  and  request- 
ing reinforcements. 

As  this  was  his  first  campaign,  I  shall  dwell  upon  it; 
for  here  we  shall  perceive  his  qualities  as  a  commander, 
as  fully  developed  as  will  be  necessary  to  exhibit  his  char- 
acter in  that  position.  His  determination  to  advance  shows 
none  of  the  rashness  or  impetuosity  of  the  unthinking 
brave ;  it  was  the  result  of  deliberation  and  counsel,  and 
for  sufficient  reasons.  To  retreat  would  have  been  a 
degrading  abandonment  of  his  duty,  a  betraying  of  the 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  177 

trust  reposed  in  him;  it  would  have  stricken  a  panic  into 
liis  men,  from  which  they  could  not  be  recovered;  it  would 
have  given  to  the  enemy  confidence,  time,  and  undisturbed 
possession ;  and  would  have  totally  bewildered  the  colonial 
councils,  whilst  the  Indians  would  have  been  gained  over 
by  the  French.  Did  he  remain  where  he  was,  nearly  all 
these  effects  would  have  been  equally  the  result;  at  all 
events,  his  troops  would  have  been  idle  and  discontented; 
they  would  have  lost  all  confidence  in  him,  and  did  they 
not  desert  him  on  the  first  failure  of  supplies,  insubordi- 
nation and  plunder  would  have  left  him  despised  and 
powerless,  the  butt  of  a  mob,  not  the  commander  of  sol- 
diers. As  it  was,  from  the  neglect  of  the  commissaries, 
provisions  failed  upon  their  march.  Besides  the  perplexity 
of  this  misfortune,  he  had  to  overcome  the  difficulties  of 
exploring  his  way  and  of  constructing  his  road.  He  was, 
on  those  occasions,  himself  the  pioneer,  who,  with  a  few 
attendants,  penetrated  the  recesses  of  the  forest,  to  learn 
how  a  swamp  might  be  avoided ;  or  he  encountered,  in  a 
canoe  or  on  a  raft,  the  perils  of  an  unexplored  river,  to 
discover  its  obstructions  or  its  falls,  to  ascertain  where  it 
was  fordable,  or  where  a  bridge  could  be  placed.  What 
patience,  ingenuity,  judgment,  and  perseverance  was  neces- 
sary for  such  an  expedition!  This  was  the  school  to  which 
Providence  led  him,  that  he  might  be  taught  for  a  period 
of  equal  difficulties  upon  a  more  extended  scale  and  for  a 
nobler  purpose.  Not  to  secure  for  one  monarch  rather  than 
for  another  the  nominal  and  useless  sovereignty  over  the 
wild  hunting  grounds,  which  as  Tanacharison,  speaking  of 
the  French  and  English,  told  both  parties,  "the  Great  Being 
above  allowed  to  be  the  residence  for  him  and  his  people,"  but 
to  redeem  the  people  of  a  continent  from  the  dictation  of  a 
distant  island,  and  casting  off  the  bands  with  which  it  was 
sought  to  confine  them,  leave  them  to  exercise  those  facul- 
ties and  those  powers  with  which  God  had  endowed  them, 
with  that  freedom  which  is  the  right  of  every  nation,  and 


19 


178  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

by   whose   proper    use    she    can   better    secure    her    happiness, 
than    she    can   by   any   foreign    direction. 

As    he    advanced    towards    the    Monongahela,    he    received 
notice   from   Tanacharison   that   the   French   had   sent  a   party 
out  from  their  fort,  who  had   determined  "to  strike  the   Eng- 
lish" should  they  be  met  with.     Soon  afterwards  he  received 
another    message   that    the    French   was     advanced    to   within 
fifteen   miles   of  him.     Knowing   his    situation,   he   thought   it 
better   to    choose    his    field,    and    accordingly    drew    his    little 
force    to    a    place    called    the    Great    Meadows ;    and   having 
cleared   it   as   well   as    circumstances   would    allow,    he    threw 
up   an    entrenchment,    nearly   protected    on   three    sides    by    a 
stream,    and   sufficiently   distant    from    the    wood    to    require 
that    an     assailant    should     show     his     men    upon    the    open 
ground.     He   sent   out  scouts    mounted    on    his  wagon   horses 
to   reconnoitre ;    but   they  returned  without  having  made  any 
discovery.      His     camp    was,    however,    alarmed     during    the 
night;    his    sentinels    fired,    and    his    men   were    kept    under 
arms   till   morning.     A  respectable  settler  then   came  in  with 
information  that  a  French  detachment  of  fifty  men   had  been 
at   his   place    on   the    previous    day,    and    that    he    had    dis- 
covered  their   tracks  within  five  miles   of  the   camp.     In  the 
early    part    of  the   next   night   another    express    arrived    from 
the    Indian,  who    was    within    about    six    miles    of  the    Great 
Meadows   with   his   people,    stating   that    the    French  were    in 
his   vicinity,    and   that   he   had    seen   two    tracks.     Within    an 
hour   after   this    arrival,    Washington,    at    the    head    of    forty 
men,    left   the    camp   in   the    midst    of    torrents    of    rain,    on 
one    of   the    darkest    nights    that    could    be    imagined.     The 
soldiers    strayed    from    the    path,    frequently    lost    their   way, 
climbed   over   fallen   trees  and  opposing  rocks,    and  stumbled 
over  each  other;  *and  it  took  them  as  many  hours  to  reach 
the   Indian   station,  as  they  had  miles  to  pass   over.     It  was 
nearly  sunrise  when  they  arrived. 

The  occurrence  of  this  day  was  in  many  ways  remarka- 
ble. It  was  a  battle  between  the  troops  of  two  nations 
actually  at  peace.  The  force  engaged  was  small,  but  it 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.        179 

was  the  commencement  of  a  contest  which  deprived  France 
of  one  of  her  most  important  colonies,  after  the  vicissitudes 
of  nearly  seven  years  of  war.  It  was  the  military  essay 
of  a  young  man  who  was  destined  to  lead  the  armies  of  half 
u  continent,  struggling  for  that  freedom  which  it  was  to 
achieve,  against  the  efforts  of  that  nation  on  whose  behalf 
he  was  now  himself  engaged;  but  that  freedom  was  not 
to  be  obtained  without  the  aid  of  that  country  against 
which  he  was  then  armed.  Such  are  the  vicissitudes  of 
human  affairs.  But  this  was  also,  for  the  character  of 
Washington,  an  event,  the  proper  understanding  of  whose 
circumstances  is  of  peculiar  importance.  It  is  the  only  bat- 
tle in  which  he  was  engaged  which  even  an  enemy  ven- 
tured to  point  out  as  unjustifiable  carnage. 

It  was  stated  in  Europe  that  M.  de  Jumonville,  who 
commanded,  was  not  an  officer  sent  for  a  hostile  purpose, 
but  an  ambassador  sent  on  an  errand  of  a  peaceful  char- 
acter; that  a  rash,  impetuous,  and  inexperienced  youth  wan- 
tonly assailed  and  cruelly  murdered  the  envoy  and  his 
attendants. 

Let  us  examine  the  case.  This  statement  was  made  in 
Europe  by  the  diplomatists  of  France,  at  a  moment  when 
they  were  engaged  with  those  of  England,  apparently  seeking 
to  adjust  their  differences,  but  really,  it  is  believed,  seeking 
a  colorable  pretext  for  war.  The  French  had  made  their 
preparations  already  in  America  to  surround  the  British 
colonies,  and  to  confine  them,  as  nearly  as  they  could,  from 
extending  to  the  west.  It  was,  according  to  the  rules  of 
what  is  called  diplomacy,  the  business  of  the  French  agents 
to  create  the  impression  that  England  had  given  occasion 
for  their  hostile  movements,  and  this  occurrence  furnished 
the  pretext  they  sought.1 

Let  us  now  see  Washington's  position.  Fully  aware  of 
the  objects  of  the  French,  from  his  previous  interview, 

i  No  excuses  can  absolve  the  British  government  from  the  crime  of  their  iniqui- 
tous invasion  cf  the  rights  of  France,  whose  sons  had  purchased,  by  their  toil  and 
blood,  the  territory  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 


180       THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON. 

when  he  had  gone,  unaccompanied  by  a  retinue  of  soldiers, 
to  deliver  a  letter  and  to  hold  a  discussion  with  the  prin- 
cipal officer  of  the  force  that  was  making  descents  and 
settlements  within  what  the  English  regarded  as  their  lands, 
he  not  only  found  his  remonstrances  useless,  but  he  saw 
the  aggressions  extended.  Commissioned  and  sent  out  by 
his  own  government,  with  an  armed  force,  to  repel  this 
invasion  and  to  protect  its  limits,  he  finds  a  portion  of 
his  command  dispossessed  of  a  fort  which  they  had  been 
erecting,  his  troops  threatened  with  violence  if  they  did  not 
yield.  He  finds,  by  the  report  of  his  scouts,  that  an  armed 
baud  -  was  advancing  still  farther  into  his  country — that 
they  were  hovering  about  his  camp.  He  is  informed  by 
his  Indian  allies,  .that  their  avowed  object  is  to  attack  the 
English.  His  camp  is  alarmed.  By  whom?  It  is  true 
that  a  few  of,  his  men  had  deserted,  but  surely  deserters 
are  not  found  lurking  round  the  spot  where  capture  and 
punishment  would  be  the  probable  result.  He  consults 
Tanacharison.  He  discovers  that  this  armed  band  has  with- 
drawn from  the  common  road,  which  peaceful  envoys  travel, 
and  lay  in  a  concealed  and  well-protected  retreat,  like 
invaders,  and  had  sent  scouts  to  observe  the  British  posi- 
tion. This  fact  was  ascertained  by  the  discovery  of  their 
tracks.  Messengers  had  also  been  sent  back  by  them  to 
the  main  body  of  their  force,  clearly  to  carry  information, 
probably  to  call  for  an  advance  of  larger  numbers.  Is  he 
to  await  the  arrival  of  an  army  superior  in  force,  and 
permit  the  object  which  he  had  been  selected  to  accom- 
plish, to  be  lost?  Is  he  to  permit  himself  to  be  trifled 
with  and  overreached  ?  His  ally,  who  had  means  of  infor- 
mation, assures  him  that  their  intention  is  hostile.  There 
is  but  one  course  open  for  him.  He  plans  the  mode  of 
attack,  should  it  be  necessary,  yet  he  leaves  an  opportunity 
to  the  others  to  see  and  to  explain.  He  advances  against 
the  position  of  the  armed  invaders.  They  are  discovered; 
lie  is  himself  at  the  head  of  his  little  detachment;  he 
is  seen.  The  ambassador,  of  course,  will  now  show  his 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  181 

symbol  of  friendship — will  demand  protection,  and  seek  to 
attain  the  end  of  his  mission.  Washington  advances,  and  he 
is  received,  not  with  the  etiquette  of  an  envoy,  but  with 
the  warning  of  loaded  muskets.  He  is  prepared,  and  the 
return  is  quickly  made.  The  whole  effort  of  the  assailants, 
for  such  are  they  to  whom  he  is  opposed,  is  directed 
against  the  Virginians ;  the  Indian  is  left  unassailed.  If 
the  commander  and  ten  of  his  soldiers  have  lost  their  lives 
before  the  surviving  twenty-two  have  called  for  quarter,  they 
have  fallen  victims  either  to  their  duty,  if  they  were 
enemies,  or  to  their  folly,  if  they  were  friends.  It  is  true, 
that  in  the  pocket  of  the  commander  there  was  found  a 
dictatorial  summons  to  the  English  commander,  leaving  him 
the  only  option  of  retiring  peaceably  east  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  or  of  being  compelled  by  force  to  do  so.  Some  of 
the  ambassador's  officers  asserted,  when  they  were  prisoners, 
that  they  had  never  seen  the  document,  and  they  censured 
its  style.  However,  they  said  many  other  things,  which 
Washington  declared  not  to  be  facts.  The  captured  men 
were  sent  prisoners  to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  who  approved 
of  Washington's  conduct. 

He  wrote  to  the  Governor  that  he  was  certain  of  being 
attacked  by  a  superior  force,  as  soon  as  the  French  should 
learn  what  had  occurred ;  that,  in  his  present  situation  he 
would  be  unable  to  hold  his  ground  against  them.  He 
could  only  assure  him  that  he  would  not  be  taken  by 
surprise ;  and  would  not  retreat  or  surrender  whilst  the 
slightest  prospect  existed  of  being  able  to  make  a  useful 
or  an  honorable  resistance.  The  succors  he  received  were 
small ;  the  want  of  supplies,  especially  of  provisions,  was 
very  trying.  The  distinctions  in  pay  and  in  rank  between 
the  officers  of  the  colony  and  those  of  the  crown  were 
unfortunate  and  paralyzing,  and  would  have  produced  worse 
consequences  but  for  the  good  sense,  the  moderation,  and 
kindly  feeling  that  existed  between  Colonel  Washington  and 
Captain  Mackay,  wrho  commanded,  under  a  royal  commis- 
sion, the  only  contingent  from  another  State  that  took  the 


182  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

field.  South  Carolina,  always  ready  to  take  her  place  in 
the  day  of  peril  and  at  the  post  of  honor,  sent  her  hun- 
dred men  to  share  the  sufferings  and  the  dangers  of  this 
campaign — which  terminated  by  the  capitulation  of  the 
colonial  troops  to  a  superior  force  of  the  French,  who, 
during  nine  hours,  had  endeavored,  on  the  3d  of  July,  to 
get  possession  of  Fort  Necessity; — for  so  was  this  hastily 
erected  fortification  on  the  Great  Meadows  called, — and  on 
the  next  day  its  defenders  marched  out,  with  the  honors  of 
war,  to  return  home.  The  commander  and  his  soldiers, 
besides  the  consciousness  of  having  done  their  duty,  had 
also  the  thanks  of  the  council,  the  burgesses  and  the 
public.  The  prudence,  the  address,  the  courage,  the  patience, 
firmness,  and  love  of  discipline  of  Washington,  were  uni- 
versally acknowledged  with  well-merited  eulogy. 

The  blunders  and  the  difficulties  arising  from  the 
arrangements  of  rank,  to  which  I  have  before  alluded, 
caused  Washington  to  decline  accepting  a  commission  which 
was  offered  him  by  Governor  Sharpe,  of  Maryland,  who 
had  been  lately  appointed  by  the  king  of  England  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  forces  against  the  French.  In  de- 
clining the  offer,  he  added:  "I  shall  have  the  consolation 
of  knowing  that  I  have  opened  the  way,  when  the  small- 
ness  of  our  numbers  exposed  us  to  the  attacks  of  a 
superior  enemy;  and  that  I  have  had  the  thanks  of  my 
country  for  the  services  I  have  rendered." 

The  agency  of  this  man,  as  he  advanced  in  life,  upon 
a  more  extended  field,  in  more  elevated  stations,  and 
amongst  persons  of  more  importance,  necessarily  attracts 
more  attention,  and  surrounds  him  with  a  brighter  halo  of 
glory ;  but  the  individual  is  himself  unchanged.  From  the 
first  moment  to  the  last,  it  is  George  Washington!  Hence 
it  is  not  my  intention  to  trespass  upon  your  patience  by 
a  recital  of  facts,  with  which  you  are  well  acquainted,  nor 
by  leading  you  through  those  revolutionary  fields  whose 
names  are  as  familiar  to  your  mouths  and  to  your  ears  as 
household  words. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.       183 

You  know  that  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  brave 
but  unfortunate  Braddock,  to  be  one  of  his  military  family. 
I  need  not  inform  you  of  its  results.  How  Washington 
escaped,  on  that  day  which  witnessed  the  almost  total  ruin 
of  a  fine  army,  I  think  is  attributable  only  to  a  special 
Providence.  When  the  two  aids  of  the  general  were  dis- 
abled he  alone  was  engaged  in  the  duty  of  distributing 
the  orders.  He  is  seen  everywhere  on  horseback,  in  the 
hour  of  carnage,  an  object  easily  marked,  and  by  no  means 
unimportant.  He  wrote  to  his  brother:  aBy  the  all-pow- 
erful dispensation  of  Providence,  I  have  been  protected 
beyond  all  human  probability  or  expectation ;  for  I  had 
four  bullets  through  my  coat,  and  two  horses  shot  under 
me.  Yet  I  escaped  unhurt,  although  death  was  leveling 
my  companions  on  every  side  of  me." 

It  is  true,  that  in  this  action,  though  unexpectedly 
attacked,  and  his  veteran  European  soldiers  thrown  into 
inextricable  confusion,  General  Braddock  and  his  officers 
behaved  with  the  utmost  courage,  "and  used  every  effort 
to  rally  the  men,  and  bring  them  to  order,  but  all  in 
vain.  In  this  state  they  continued  nearly  three  hours, 
huddling  together  in  confused  bodies,  firing  irregularly,  shoot- 
ing down  their  own  officers  and  men,  and  doing  no  per- 
ceptible harm  to  the  enemy.  The  Virginia  provincials  were 
the  only  troops  who  seemed  to  retain  their  senses,  and  they 
behaved  with  a  bravery  and  resolution  worthy  of  a  better 
fate.  They  adopted  the  Indian  mode,  and  fought  each  man 
for  himself  behind  a  tree.  This  was  prohibited  by  the 
general,  who  endeavored  to  form  his  men  into  platoons  and 
columns,  as  if  they  had  been  manceuvering  on  the  plains  of 
Flanders.  Meantime  the  French  and  Indians,  concealed  in 
the  ravines  and  behind  trees,  kept  up  a  deadly  and  un- 
ceasing discharge  of  musketry,  singling  out  their  objects, 
taking  deliberate  aim,  and  producing  a  carnage  almost  un- 
paralleled in  the  annals  of  modern  warfare.  More  than 
half  of  the  whole  army,  which  had  crossed  the  river  in  so 
proud  an  array  only  three  hours  before,  were  killed  or 


184  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

wounded.  The  general  himself  received  a  mortal  wound, 
and  many  of  his  best  officers  fell  by  his  side." 

"A  report  has  been  long  current  in  Pennsylvania  that 
Braddock  was  shot  by  one  of  his  own  men,  founded  on 
the  declaration  of  a  provincial  soldier,  who  was  in  the 
action.  There  is  another  tradition,  also  worthy  of  notice, 
which  rests  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Craik,  the  intimate 
friend  of  Washington  from  his  boyhood  to  his  death,  and 
who  was  with  him  at  the  battle  of  the  Monongahela. 
Fifteen  years  after  that  event  they  traveled  together  on  an 
expedition  to  the  western  country,  with  a  party  of  woods- 
men, for  the  purpose  of  exploring  wild  lands.  While  near 
the  junction  of  the  Great  Kanawha  and  Ohio  rivers  a 
company  of  Indians  came  to  them  with  an  interpreter,  at 
the  head  of  whom  was  an  aged  and  venerable  chief.  This 
personage  made  known  to  them,  by  the  interpreter,  that 
hearing  Colonel  Washington  was  in  that  region,  he  had 
come  a  long  way  to  visit  him,  adding,  that  during  the 
battle  of  the  Monongahela,  he  had  singled  him  out  as  a 
conspicuous  object,  fired  his  rifle  at  him  many  times,  and 
directed  his  young  warriors  to  do  the  same,  but  to  his 
utter  astonishment,  none  of  their  balls  took  effect.  He  was 
then  persuaded  that  the  youthful  hero  was  under  the  special 
guardianship  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  ceased  to  fire  at  him 
any  longer.  He  M'as  now  come  to  pay  homage  to  the  man 
who  was  the  particular  favorite  of  heaven,  and  who  could 
never  die  in  battle." 

It  is  thought  that  if  Braddock  had  been  attentive  to  the 
counsel  of  his  Virginia  aid,  the  result  would  have  been 
different.  Washington's  sufferings,  his  services,  and  his  suc- 
cess, when  subsequently  called  from  his  retirement  by  his 
country,  to  assume  the  command  of  the  Virginia  forces, 
and  to  aid  General  Forbes,  served  still  further,  during 
three  years,  to  manifest  his  good  qualities,  and  to  prepare 
him  better  for  the  great  work  which  he  was  destined,  at 
a  future  day,  to  achieve.  In  January,  1759,  after  having 
resigned  his  commission,  when  lie  had  made  his  troops 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  185 

efficient,  and  had  been  crowned  with  success  in  his  enter- 
prise, he  prepared  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in, 
private  life.  Upon  his  marriage  he  received  a  great  acces- 
sion to  his  property,  besides  being  united  to  a  companion 
whose  affection  for  him  and  whose  domestic  virtues  exceeded 
even  the  meed  of  reputation  which  she  had  obtained  for 
more  brilliant  though  less  valuable  qualities.  Forty  years 
of  vicissitudes  always  showed  their  mutual  regards,  not, 
perhaps,  altogether  unchanged,  but  if  altered,  they  were 
increasing  in  respect  and  affection.  Whenever  his  keen 
sense  of  public  duty  allowed  him  a  short  respite  from  his 
laborious  employments,  he  sought,  with  renovated  eagerness, 
the  cheerful  society  of  his  home  and  the  pleasing  occupa- 
tion of  superintending  his  domestic  concerns.  This  proved 
his  unambitious  disposition  and  the  excellence  of  his  family 
circle.  Firm  and  sufficiently  forward,  when  the  good  of 
his  conntry  required  it,  he  was  as  ready  to  face  her  foes 
in  the  field  as  he  was  to  expostulate  with  her  governors 
when  he  had  to  point  out  their  oversight  or  neglect,  as  it 
was  frequently  necessary,  in  vindicating  what  was  due  to 
his  officers  and  soldiers,  and  in  requiring  what  was  de- 
manded by  his  circumstances  to  insure  the  attainment  of  the 
public  safety.  He  was  always  ready  to  sacrifice  his  own 
private  claims,  t®  forego  what  wrere  his  just  recompenses, 
and  to  shun  public  honors.  Whilst  he  was  engaged  in  the 
field  at  the  close  of  his  services,  he  was  .  elected  by  the 
county  of  Frederick  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  of 
Virginia.  Upon  his  return,  whilst  attending  the  session  in 
his  place,  Mr.  Robinson,  the  speaker,  by  direction  of  the 
assembly,  returned  thanks  to  the  young  hero;  but  unused 
to  such  a  position,  and  confounded  at  the  sound  of  his 
eulogy,  he  stood  unable  to  reply  until  the  speaker  reliev- 
ing him  by  a  still  higher  compliment,  ingeniously  added, 
from  the  inspiration  of  truth :  "  Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington ; 
your  modesty  equals  your  valor,  and  that  surpasses  the 
power  of  any  language  that  I  possess." 

He   was    now    twenty-seven    years    of    age,    and    with    the 


186        THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON. 

•exception  of  his  attendance  as  a  legislator  at  the  sessions 
of  the  Assembly,  he  kept,  as  far  as  possible,  secluded  from 
public  life;  occupied  at  Mount  Yernon  in  the  improve- 
ment of  agriculture,  the  exercise  of  a  generous  hospitality, 
and  finding  relaxation  in  the  intercourse  with  his  neighbors 
and  his  loved  relatives,  with  respectable  and  polished 
strangers  whom  his  early  fame  had  attracted  to  visit  at  his 
mansion.  His  chief  enjoyment  was  in  the  domestic  circle, 
and  an  occasional  indulgence  in  the  sports  of  the  field ; 
the  excitement,  the  labor,  and  the  exposure  of  which  had 
been  rendered  in  a  great  measure  necessary  by  his  previ- 
ous occupations  and  habits  from  his  very  boyish  days.  Nor 
could  he  refuse  the  benefit  of  his  judgment  and  the  weight 
of  his  integrity  to  the  solicitations  of  many  who  preferred 
in  their  difficulties  being  guided  by  his  advice  and  de- 
cisions, to  litigating  their  claims  before  public  tribunals. 

I  believe  we  may  safely  say,  that  few  members  of  society 
are  more  useful  than  an  independent  and  upright  country 
gentleman,  who  is  thus  the  protector  of  his  family,  the 
cultivator  of  the  soil,  the  model  of  his  neighbors  for  good 
conduct,  the  harbinger  of  peace  in  contentions,  the  patri- 
arch, whose  feelings  of  kindly  interest  are  engaged  for  the 
welfare  of  his  servants,  and  who,  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
disinterestedly  and  without  any  selfish  projects  or  party 
techemes,  devotes  a  due  share  of  his  time  and  of  his  atten- 
tion, in  proper  place,  to  the  public  business  of  the  State. 
Such  was  the  manner  in  which  twelve  or  fourteen  years 
of  his  life  now  passed  away.  Such  is  the  way  in  which 
he  desired  it  should  continue  to  its  termination. 

It  was,  however,  not  so  decreed  in  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence. Great  Britain  undertook  to  impose  taxes  without 
their  own  consent  upon  the  colonies.  The  amount  was  im- 
material— the  principle  was  everything.  Admit  that  it  may 
be  done  to  the  amount  of  one  cent  in  the  year,  what  is 
to  restrain  the  imposition?  From  the  first  moment,  Wash- 
ington saw  what  must  be  the  result  if  the  effort  was  con- 
tinued, and  he  declared  it  as  plainly  as  he  saw  it;  when 


THE    CHARACTER   OF  WASHINGTON.  187 

that  declaration  was  necessary  it  might  be  useful.  He  could 
scarcely  persuade  himself  that  Great  Britain  would  persist. 
He  expressed  his  hopes  that  she  would  not ;  and  cherished, 
as  far  as  he  could,  that  expectation  in  the  bosom  of  his 
friends.  He  knew  well  that  resistance  must  end  in  revo- 
lution; revolution  in  civil  war.  He  abhorred  the  desola- 
tion of  his  country,  the  havoc  of  his  people,  the  thousand 
evils  which  accompany  and  succeed  the  bloody  strife.  He 
,had  seen  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war.  Never  did 
he  behold  a  more  glorious  and  splendid  pageant  than  when 
Braddock's  men  deployed  in  wrell-set  order,  and  moved 
forward  in  brilliant  uniform,  with  shining  arms  glittering 
in  a  radiant  sun,  on  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela.  But 
before  that  sun  was  set,  their  gory  limbs,  their  shattered 
arms,  their  mutilated  bodies  lay  in  terrible  confusion  on 
that  fatal  plain ;  the  moans  of  the  dying  and  the  wailings 
of  the  wounded  were  mingled  with  the  blasphemy  of  the 
raving  and  the  lamentations  and  the  oaths  of  the  despair- 
ing. It  is  the  vain  braggart  who  shuns  the  field  where 
the  contest  for  his  country's  rights  is  to  try  man's  prowess, 
who  too  frequently  makes  a  vaporing  semblance  of  a  vir- 
tue which  he  has  not ;  it  is  often  the  coward  who  wan- 
tonly provokes  brave  men  to  those  lists,  of  which  he  con- 
tinues to  be  only  a  spectator.  But  that  man  whose  soul 
is  ennobled  by  true  heroism,  possesses  a  heart  as  tender 
as  it  is  firm;  he  is  equally  ready  to  soothe  and  protect 
a  child  as  he  is  to  oppose  and  smite  a  giant ;  he  avoids 
exciting  the  bloody  fray,  whilst  honor  and  justice  will  per- 
mit its  being  declined ;  but  when  the  battle  has  become 
his  duty,  his  arm  is  indeed  nerved  and  elastic,  his  eye  is 
keen  and  discerning,  he  assails  the  haughty,  but  he  lifts 
the  suppliant,  and  he  consoles  the  vanquished.  A  man  who 
is  truly  brave  is  also  truly  generous ;  he  shudders  at  the 
ruin  of  battle,  he  endeavors  to  avoid  its  necessities ;  but  that 
necessity  once  established,  he  unflinchingly  performs  his  duty. 
It  is  not,  however,  in  the  bloody  field  that  the  work  of 
desolation  is  most  extensive  or  most  afflicting.  It  is  there, 


188  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

indeed,  that  the  first  blow  is  struck ;  it  is  there  the  ruin 
commences.  But  though  he  who  lies  mangled  and  festering 
amidst  the  heap  of  victims  that  have  been  immolated  to 
the  Moloch  of  war,  is  now  insensible  to  mortal  grief  or 
pain,  not  so  the  survivors.  Separated  as  the  iron  soldier 
appears  to  be  from  everything  that  belongs  to  the  affections 
of  life  and  the  ties  of  relationship,  still  he  is  a  man,  and 
bound  to  others  with  the  most  tender  ligaments  that  twine 
around  the  heart.  There  lies  one  upon  the  field — his  blood 
still  flows ;  his  wound  indeed  is  mortal,  but  as  yet  all  his 
soul  is  in  him.  Half  elevated,  he  reclines  upon  the  corpse 
of  a  comrade  who  shared  in  his  toils,  who  partook  of  his 
confidence,  who  was  charged,  should  he  survive  him,  to 
bear  the  token  of  his  affection  to  one  far  distant  from  that 
scene  of  carnage.  "With  an  effort,  he  has  succeeded  in 
drawing  that  pledge  from  the  bosom  of  his  friend;  and, 
whilst  his  arm  rests  upon  his  broken  musket,  what  he 
meant  to  be  a  memorial  for  the  wife  of  his  youth,  the 
partner  of  his  affections,  the  mother  of  his  children,  is 
now  for  himself  inseparably  united  with  her  image;  it  is 
grasped  with  a  hold  which  even  death  will  not  relax,  whilst 
his  swollen  and  distended  eye  rests  upon  it.  He  heeds 
not  the  joyous  shout,  though  it  proclaims  victory  for  his 
companions ;  the  wild  tumult  of  flight  is  around  him,  but 
of  this  and  of  every  other  object  on  the  field,  save  that  one 
token,  he  is  now  regardless.  His  mind  is  far  away,  his  recol- 
lection is  of  other  years.  His  wife,  his  mother,  his  chil- 
dren, his  cottage — these  are  all  present  to  his  excited 
fancy.  He  seems  for  the  moment  to  have  some  new,  though 
melancholy,  existence  amongst  them.  The  ebb  becomes  slow 
from  his  side ;  that  gasp  is  convulsive ;  he  awakes  to  a 
consciousness  of  his  state ;  a  petition  to  his  God ;  an 
expression  of  contrition,  of  resignation,  and  of  hope.  His 
lips  quiver  as  he  prays  for  a  blessing  on  those  whom  he 
leaves  to  the  cold  charity  of  a  selfish  world,  as  he  dies 
upon  what  is  called  the  field  of  glory.  A  grateful  country 
decks  the  spot,  indeed,  with  barren  laurels,  and  the  cold, 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  189 

cold  shafts  of  affliction  penetrate  the  hearts  of  those  who 
lived  in  the  expectation  of  his  return.  "Who  will  protect 
his  orphans?  Who  will  soothe  the  mother?  "Who  will  sus- 
tain the  widow? 

Washington  had  witnessed  with  aching  heart  many  a 
scene  of  this  description.  Generously  did  he  minister  to 
many  a  family  thus  stripped  in  desolation ;  and  therefore 
he  was  not  a  man  to  rush  thoughtlessly  upon  a  course 
that  he  knew  must  entail  such  miseries  upon  his  country. 
He  felt  deeply  the  wrongs  which  the  British  government 
was  perpetrating;  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  determine  that 
they  must  not  be  endured ;  but  he  sought,  by  petition,  by 
remonstrance,  by  expostulation,  by  non-importation,  to  try 
whether  it  was  possible  to  avoid  recourse  to  arms.  Yet, 
whilst  he  sought  to  restrain  the  violence  of  his  friends,  he 
had  calmly  and  deliberately  resolved  to  act  and  to  suffer, 
and,  if  necessary,  to  die  in  organized  resistance,  upon  clearly 
ascertained  principle,  rather  than  submit  to  a  tyranny  whose 
oppressions  would  far  exceed  even  the  disasters  of  battle 
and  of  death.  It  is  a  melancholy  choice  when  one  is 
obliged  to  take  one  or  the  other,  in  this  exhibition  of 
alternatives.  It  is  a  great  relief  when  any  other  mode 
leaves  a  probability  or  even  a  faint  hope,  that  by  patience, 
by  exertion,  by  time,  by  moral  influence,  an  amelioration 
may  be  obtained,  and  the  horrors  of  war  may  bo  averted. 
This  hope  was  cherished — this  principle  was  the  guiding 
star  of  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution ;  and  it  was  not 
until  every  ray  of  parliamentary  sympathy  was  extinguished, 
and  that  the  royal  eye  no  longer  beamed  upon  the  peti- 
tions that  were  laid  even  at  the  footstool  of  the  throne, 
that  Washington  found  himself  in  the  gloom  of  hopeless- 
ness, and  that  he  yielded  to  the  dire  necessity  of  inflict- 
ing upon  his  country  the  evils  of  military  contest.  Still 
his  soul  recoiled  from  it;  and  fully  six  years  before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  his  sentiments  were  expressed 
to  a  friend  with  whom  he  consulted  in  the  following  terms : 

"At   a   time   when    our    lordly   masters    in    Great    Britain 


190  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the  deprivation  of 
American  freedom,  it  seems  highly  necessary  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  to  avert  the  stroke,  and  maintain 
the  liberty  which  we  have  derived  from  our  ancestors. 
But  the  manner  of  doing  it,  to  answer  the  purpose  effectu- 
ally, is  the  point  in  question. 

"  That  no  man  should  scruple  or  hesitate  a  moment  to 
use  arms  in  defence  of  so  valuable  a  blessing,  is  clearly 
my  opinion.  Yet  arms,  I  would  beg  leave  to  add,  should 
be  the  last  resource,  the  dernier  ressort.  We  have  already, 
it  is  said,  proved  the  inefficacy  of  addresses  to  the  throne 
and  remonstrances  to  Parliament.  How  far,  then,  their 
attention  to  our  rights  and  privileges  may  be  awakened  or 
alarmed,  by  starving  their  trade  and  manufactures,  remains 
to  be  tried." 

Two  other  extracts  from  his  correspondence,  nearly  five 
years  later,  will  show  the  convictions  of  a  mind  that  had 
long  and  maturely  deliberated  upon  the  subject.  Writing 
to  a  friend  who  hesitated  upon  acceding  to  resolutions  of 
a  meeting  in  Fairfax  county,  at  which  Washington  pre- 
sided, he  says : 

"  That  I  differ  very  widely  from  you  in  respect  to  the 
mode  of  obtaining  a  repeal  of  the  acts  so  much  and 
so  justly  complained  of,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  acknowl- 
edge ;  and  that  this  difference  in  opinion  probably  pro- 
ceeds from  the  different  constructions  we  put  upon  the 
conduct  and  intention  of  the  ministry,  may  also  be  true; 
but,  as  I  see  nothing,  on  the  one  hand,  to  induce  a 
belief  that  the  Parliament  would  embrace  a  favorable 
opportunity  of  repealing  acts,  which  they  go  on  with  great 
rapidity  to  pass,  in  order  to  enforce  their  tyrannical  system; 
and,  on  the  other,  I  observe,  or  think  I  observe,  that 
government  is  p.ursuing  a  regular  plan  at  the  expense 
of  law  and  justice  to  overthrow  our  constitutional  rights 
and  liberties,  how  can  I  expect  any  redress  from  a 
measure  which  has  been  ineffectually  tried  already?  For, 
sir,  what  is  it  we  are  contending  against?  Is  it  against 


THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  191 

paying  the  duty  of  three  pence  per  pound  on  tea  because 
burdensome?  No,  it  is  the  right  only  we  have  all  along 
disputed;  and  to  this  end  we  have  already  petitioned  his 
majesty  in  as  humble  and  dutiful  a  manner  as  subjects 
could  do.  Nay,  more,  we  applied  to  the  House  of  Lords 
and  House  of  Commons  in  their  different  legislative  capaci- 
ties, setting  forth,  that,  as  Englishmen,  we  could  not  be 
deprived  of  this  essential  and  valuable  part  of  our  Con- 
stitution. If,  then,  as  the  fact  really  is,  it  is  against  the 
right  of  taxation  that  we  now  do  and,  as  I  said  before, 
all  along  have  contended,  why  should  they  suppose  an  ex- 
ertion of  this  power  would  be  less  obnoxious  now  than 
formerly?  And  what  reason  have  we  to  believe  that  they 
would  make  a  second  attempt,  whilst  the  same  sentiments 
fill  the  breast  of  every  American,  if  they  did  not  intend 
to  enforce  it  if  possible? 

"In  short,  what  further  proofs  are  wanting  to  satisfy  any 
one  of  the  designs  of  the  ministry,  than  their  own  acts, 
which  are  uniform  and  plainly  tending  to  the  same  point, 
nay,  if  I  mistake  not,  avowedly  to  fix  the  right  of  taxa- 
tion? What  hope  have  we,  then,  from  petitioning  when  they 
tell  us  that  now  or  never  is  the  time  to  fix  the  matter  ? 
Shall  we,  after  this,  whine  and  cry  for  relief,  when  we  have 
already  tried  it  in  vain  ?  Or  shall  we  supinely  sit  and  see 
one  province  after  another  fall  a  sacrifice  to  despotism  ? 

"  If  I  were  in  any  doubt  as  to  the  right  which  the  Par- 
liament of  Great  Britain  had  to  tax  us  without  our  consent, 
I  should  most  heartily  coincide  with  you  in  opinion,  that 
to  petition,  and  to  petition  only,  is  the  proper  method  to 
apply  for  relief;  because  we  should  then  be  asking  a  favorr 
and  not  claiming  a  right,  which,  by  the  law  of  nature  and 
our  Constitution,  we  are,  in  my  opinion,  indubitably  entitled 
to.  I  should  even  think  it  criminal  to  go  further  than 
this,  under  such  an  idea ;  but  I  have  none  such.  I  think 
the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  has  no  more  right  to  put 
its  hands  into  my  pocket,  without  my  consent,  than  I  have 
to  put  my  hands  into  yours ;  and  this  being  already  urged 


192       THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON. 

to    it   in    a   firm  but  decent  manner,  by  all  the  colonies,  what 
reason    is    there   to    expect    anything   from  its  justice  ? 

"  Satisfied,  then,  that  the  acts  of  the  British  Parliament 
are  no  longer  governed  by  the  principles  of  justice,  that 
they  are  trampling  upon  the  valuable  rights  of  Americans, 
confirmed  to  them  by  charter  and  by  the  Constitution  they 
themselves  boast  of,  and  convinced,  beyond  the  smallest 
doubt,  that  these  measures  are  the  result  of  deliberation, 
and  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution  by  the  hand  of 
power,  is  it  a  time  to  trifle,  or  to  risk  our  cause  upon 
petitions,  which  with  difficulty  obtain  access,  and  afterwards 
are  thrown  by  with  the  utmost  contempt?  Or  should  we, 
because  heretofore  unsuspicious  of  design,  and  then  un- 
willing to  enter  into  disputes  with  the  mother  country,  go 
on  to  bear  more,  and  forbear  to  enumerate  our  just  causes 
of  complaint?  For  my  own  part,  I  shall  not  undertake 
to  say  where  the  line  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
colonies  should  be  drawn ;  but  I  am  Clearly  of  opinion 
that  one  ought  to  be  drawn,  and  our  rights  clearly  ascer- 
tained. I  could  wish,  I  own,  that  the  dispute  had  been 
left  to  posterity  to  determine;  but  the  crisis  is  arrived 
when  we  must  assert  our  rights,  or  submit  to  every  impo- 
sition that  can  be  heaped  upon  us,  till  custom  and  use 
shall  make  us  tame  and  abject  slaves." 

This,  in  fact,  embodies  the  whole  principle  of  the 
Revolution. 

Whilst  attending  a  meeting  of  the  first  Congress,  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  he  received  a  letter  from  a 
former  companion-in-arms,  who  held  a  commission  in  an 
English  regiment  then  stationed  at  Boston.  The  following 
is  an  extract  from  the  answer  which  he  sent : 

"These,  sir,  being  certain  consequences,  which  must 
naturally  result  from  the  late  acts  of  Parliament  relative 
to  America  in  general,  and  the  government  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  particular,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  I  repeat,  that 
men,  who  wish  to  avert  tho  impending  blow,  should  attempt 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  193 

to  oppose  it  in  its  progress,  or  prepare  for  their  defence 
if  it  cannot  be  averted?  Surely  I  may  be  allowed  to 
answer  in  the  negative ;  and  again  give  me  leave  to  add 
as  my  opinion,  that  more  blood  will  be  spilled  on  this 
occasion,  if  the  ministers  are  determined  to  push  matters 
to  extremity,  than  history  has  ever  yet  furnished  instances 
of  in  the  annals  of  North  America,  and  such  a  vital 
wound*  will  be  given  to  the  peace  of  this  great  country 
as  time  itself  cannot  cure  or  eradicate  the  remembrance  of." 

He  was  also  a  member  of  the  second  Congress,  which 
assembled  on  the  10th  of  May,  1775.  Blood  had  been 
then  shed  at  Lexington  and  at  Concord;  the  Rubicon  was 
passed,  and  though  no  formal  declaration  had  yet  been  made, 
still  the  sword  which  smote  the  freemen  of  New  England 
had  severed  the  tie  which  bound  that  colony  to  the  older 
land  of  freemen.  An  expression  of  John  Adams  indicated 
in  a  way  too  plain  to  be  misunderstood,  that,  though  her 
own  sons  were  in  the  field,  and  had  confidence  in  their 
commander,  still  she  would  sacrifice  sectional  pride  to  gen- 
eral advantage,  and  that  in  selecting  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  continental  forces,  the  name  of  a  Southron,  in  whose 
prowess  and  prudence  universal  confidence  was  reposed, 
would  be  presented  to  the  Congress.  Washington,  who  had 
foreseen  wrhat  he  desired  to  avoid,  rose  from  his  place  and 
retired  from  the  house,  to  leave  their  proceedings  unembar- 
rassed by  his  presence.  A  day  was  fixed  for  entering  into 
the  selection ;  and  on  opening  the  ballot-box,  into  which 
that  baud  of  devoted  patriots  had  cast  their  suffrages,  not 
another  name  was  found  but  that  of  George  Washington. 
Next  day  he  was  found  in  his  place  in  Congress,  as  a 
member  from  Virginia.  When  the  president  officially  in- 
formed him  of  his  appointment,  he  rose  in  his  place  and 
signified  his  acceptance.  His  words  were  few  and  appro- 
priate, but  the  following  expressions  show  the  unchanged 
features  of  his  character :  . 

"Lest   some    unlucky    event   should  happen,   unfavorable  to 
my  reputation,  I  beg  it  may  be  remembered  by  every  gentle- 

13 


194  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

man  in  the  room,  that  I  this  day  declare,  with  the  utmost 
sincerity,  I  do  not  think  myself  equal  to  the  command  I 
am  honored  with." 

Nor  were  these  mere  words  of  course.  His  confidential 
and  affectionate  letter  to  his  wife  shows  that  he  only 
yielded  to  a  sense  of  duty,  and  looked  upon  the  trust  as 
too  great  for  his  capacity.  How  providential  that  it  was 
to  him  it  Avas  confided! 

You  know  the  history  of  that  war  which  followed.  You 
have  appreciated,  as  you  ought,  his  prudence,  his  valor,  his 
courage,  his  privations  and  his  endurance.  You  know  what 
materials  he  had  to  mould  into  an  army:  men,  who,  in 
general,  bore  devoted  hearts,  but  who  were  unused  to  dis- 
cipline, and  not  always  patient  of  restraint ;  men  whose 
unshod  feet  often  marked  their  track  with  their  blood  upon 
the  frozen  road,  and  whose  tattered  garments  in  the  cold 
of  winter  showed  that  they  needed  all  the  fervor  of  their 
zeal  for  freedom  to  keep  them  warm  in  its  defence.  And 
amongst  the  ranks  of  those  born  in  the  country  many  a 
brave  foreigner  shared  in  the  toil  of  the  battle  and  en- 
dured the  privations  of  the  camp.  Washington  could  see 
no  difference  between  them  in  the  field,  and  he  made  no 
distinction  between  them  in  his  heart.  Lafayette,  Montgom- 
ery, Hamilton,  Steuben,  De  Kalb,  Pulaski,  Manning  and 
Jasper,  are  no  inglorious  names  upon  the  roll  of  heroes  of 
the  Revolutionary  war.  Brightly  do  they  shine  amidst  that 
galaxy  of  sons  of  the  soil  from  every  State  of  the  old 
thirteen,  that  clustered  in  so  mighty  a  multitude  around 
that  calm,  steady  and  glowing  light  that  outshone  them  all, 
and  yet  seemed  to  add  to  their  effulgence.  Well  did  they 
redeem  that  noble  pledge  which  was  made  by  men  of  every 
religious  denomination.  It  was  released,  indeed,  with  the 
loss  of  many  a  life,  and  with  the  ruin  of  many  a  noble 
fortune,  but  by  the  preservation  of  their  sacred  honor. 
With  that  honor  they  also  preserved  and  improved  their 
liberties,  and  unshackled  industry  from  the  bonds  of 
colonial  restriction.  To  the  lovers  of  enterprise  and  of  im- 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.        195 

provement,  and  to  those  hardy  children  of  labor  who  prize 
liberty,  and  are  ready  as  they  are  able  to  defend  it,  they 
opened  inviting  passages  to  those  western  lands  that  have 
already  received  millions,  and  are  capable  of  receiving  mil- 
lions more,  to  make  them  teem  with  w7calth  and  be  alive 
with  population.  But  it  is  not  my  theme  to  enlarge  upon 
what  \vas  endured  in  securing  to  us  those  advantages. 

The  character  of  strategy  pursued  by  Washington,  as  far 
as  one  so  little  skilled  as  I  am  can  form  an  opinion  on 
such  a  subject,  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  dif- 
ficult to  execute,  yet  the  best  adapted  to  his  circumstances, 
and,  as  it  proved  to  be,  most  successful  in  the  result.  At 
the  head  of  what  may  be  called  an  unorganized  mass 
rather  than  an  army,  and  the  parts  of  which  this  collec- 
tion was  composed  in  a  perpetual  state  of  change,  by  reason 
of  the  short  periods  of  enlistment — without  any  well-regu- 
lated department  of  subsistence  or  of  supply — under  a  gen- 
eral administration  which  had,  over  thirteen  confederated 
and  scarcely  formed  republics,  only  that  moral  control  which 
arises  from  common  principles  and  common  danger ; — with 
many  concealed  enemies  and  hostile  partisans  in  open  and 
avowed  connection  with  the  enemy  scattered  through  the 
land, — the  country  itself  but  thinly  settled;  its  settled  por- 
tions open  and  badly  provided  for  defence,  intersected  by 
large  navigable  bays  and  rivers,  without  any  naval  means 
of  protection ; — but  on  the  other  hand,  his  enemy,  though 
in  possession  of  the  sea,  at  a  distance  from  his  resources, 
and  though  highly  disciplined  and  well  provided,  yet  unprac- 
ticed  in  partisan  warfare  and  dreading  an  intricate  country, — 
"Washington  found  it  to  be  his  duty  to  turn  his  whole 
attention  towards  the  establishment  and  the  maintenance  of 
discipline.  For  this  purpose  he  had  not  only  to  exert  his 
authority  with  great  discretion  and  forbearance  towards  those 
under  his  command,  but  to  use  all  his  influence  with 
the  several  governments,  to  induce  them  to  correct  their 
sytsem,  to  supply  their  deficiencies,  to  make  pecuniary  sacri- 
fices, and  to  sustain  his  efforts.  This  was  the  more  diffi- 


196  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

cult,  as,  even  at  such  a  moment,  they  indulged  to  a  mis- 
chievous extent  a  jealousy,  whose  theory  was  just,  but  whose 
application  at  such  a  moment  was  unreasonable.  They 
wished  to  give  to  the  commander  as  little  power  as  pos- 
sible, because  they  dreaded  a  military  despotism ;  and  thus 
they  sent  him,  as  Sheridan  expressed  himself  upon  another 
occasion,  with  half  a  shield  and  a  broken  sword,  to  pro- 
tect them  from  their  well-armed  enemies,  lest  if  the  buckler 
were  entire  and  the  sword  perfect,  he  might  be  tempted  in 
the  heyday  of  victory  to  smite  his  employers. 

It  was  not  only  in  establishing  discipline  that  his  exer- 
tions were  required.  No  man  loved  his  soldiers  better  than 
he  did,  and  his  letters  show  the  manner  in  which  his 
soul  was  wounded  at  the  sufferings  they  had  to  undergo 
for  the  want  of  the  most  ordinary  necessaries.  Yet,  with 
this  bitter  feeling,  was  he  obliged,  as  he  calls  it  himself, 
to  play  the  hypocrite  with  them ;  to  impress  on  their 
minds  the  obligation  of  cheerfully  enduring  everything  for 
the  great  cause  in  which  they  were  engaged.  But  whilst 
he  thus  encouraged  them  to  unite  with  himself  in  suffer- 
ing, he  earnestly,  though  not  always  successfully,  appealed 
to  those  who  ought  to  provide  for  those  men  who  were 
the  only  bulwark  between  them  and  vassalage. 

His  was  not  an  ambition  of  glory.  He  sacrificed  no 
masses  of  human  beings  in  brilliant  charges,  that  he  might 
gather  laurels  from  the  spot  enriched  by  their  gore ;  or 
that  he  might  indite  despatches  filled  with  periods  rounded 
by  the  swollen  phrases  of  destruction.  He  weighed  the 
value  of  every  life  entrusted  to  his  discretion,  .and  would 
shudder  at  the  useless  exposure  of  even  one.  This  course 
was  dictated  by  prudence  as  well  as  by  humanity  and 
justice.  By  a  Fabian  policy  his  enemy  would  be  harrassed 
and  worn  out,  and  his  supplies  would  be  more  rapidly 
consumed  than  they  could  be  increased ;  whilst  the  Amer- 
ican forces  would  be  improving  in  discipline,  accustomed 
to  action,  confident  in  themselves,  and  preserved  for  those 
occasions  when  they  could  be  usefully  brought  into  battle. 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  197 

But  when  an  opportunity  presented  itself,  lie  made  no 
calculation  of  what  it  was  necessary  to  sacrifice,  whether  of 
repose  or  of  life,  to  achieve  what  it  would  be  ruinous  or 
impolitic  to  forego ;  though  even  on  such  occasions  every 
precaution  was  taken,  not  only  to  insure  success,  but  to 
obtain  it  with  as  little  sacrifice  of  life  as  possible.  Stony 
Point,  Trenton,  and  Yorktown  are  striking  instances  of  this 
policy. 

His  aifection  for  his  men  caused  him  to  feel  keenly  for 
those  whom  the  enemy  held  as  prisoners.  At  first  the 
British  officers  undertook  to  treat  them  as  rebels ;  indignity, 
harshness,  and  severe  confinement  were  inflicted,  and  it 
was  said  that  these  endurances  would  be  followed  by  an 
ignominious  death.  In  one  instance,  the  British  prisoners 
were  marked  out  by  him  as  victims  for  retaliation ;  they 
were  on  their  march  under  an  escort  to  the  place  of  con- 
finement, when  they  were  overtaken  by  an  express,  who 
announced  that  General  Washington  could  not  permit  him- 
self to  do  what  even  the  usages  of  war  had  sanctioned ; 
that  he  could  not  punish  the  innocent  for  the  guilty,  and 
that  he  had  revoked  his  order.  He  appealed  to  the  nobler 
principles  of  the  British  commander,  and  frequently  suc- 
ceeded; but  his  anxiety  and  his  exertions  on  this  score 
were  unceasing  and  laborious.  Never  was  his  kindly  feel- 
ing better  manifested  than  when,  in  order  to  procure  a 
mitigation  of  the  suffering  of  General  Lee,  who  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  British,  and  whom  they  chose  to 
regard  and  to  treat  as  a  deserter,  the  Congress  decreed 
that  Col.  Campbell,  who  was  a  prisoner  in  Massachusetts, 
and  five  Hessian  field  officers  at  Trenton,  should  be  sub- 
jected to  precisely  the  same  treatment  as  General  Lee ;  he 
wrote  to  the  president  of  Congress : 

"In  point  of  policy,  under  the  present  situation  of  our 
affairs,  this  doctrine  cannot  be  supported.  The  balance  of 
prisoners  is  greatly  against  us,  and  a  general  regard  to  the 
happiness  of  the  whole  should  mark  our  conduct.  Can  we 
imagine  that  our  enemies  will  not  mete  the  same  punish- 


198  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

ments,  the  same  indignities,  the  same  cruelties  to  those 
belonging  to  us,  in  their  possession,  that  we  impose  'on 
theirs  in  our  power?  Why  should  we  suppose  them  to 
possess  more  humanity  than  we  have  ourselves  ?  Or  why 
should  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  relieve  the  distresses  of 
one  brave,  unfortunate  man  involve  many  more  in  the  same 
calamities?  However  disagreeable  the  fact  may  be,  the  enemy 
at  this  time  have  in  their  power  and  subject  to  their  call 
near  three  hundred  officers  belonging  to  the  army  of  the 
United  States.  In  this  number  there  are  some  of  high  rank, 
and  most  of  them  are  men  of  bravery  and  merit.  The  quota 
of  theirs  in  our  hands  bears  no  proportion,  being  not  more 
than  fifty  at  most.  Under  these  circumstances,  we  should 
certainly  do  no  act  to  draw  upon  the  gentlemen  belonging 
to  us,  and  who  have  already  suffered  a  long  captivity, 
greater  punishments  than  they  have  experienced  and  now 
experience.  If  we  should,  what  will  their  feelings  be,  and 
those  of  their  numerous  and  extensive  connections?  Suppose 
the  treatment  prescribed  for  the  Hessians  should  be  pursued, 
will  it  not  establish  what  the  enemy  have  been  aiming  to 
effect  by  every  artifice  and  the  grossest  misrepresentations? 
I  mean  an  opinion  of  our  enmity  towards  them,  and  of 
the  cruel  conduct  they  experience  when  they  fall  into  our 
hands,  a  prejudice  which  we  on  our  parts  have  heretofore 
thought  it  politic  to  suppress  and  to  root  out  by  every  act 
of  lenity  and  kindness?  It  certainly  will.  The  Hessians 
would  hear  of  the  punishment  with  all  the  circumstances  of 
heightened  exaggeration,  would  feel  the  injury,  without  inves- 
tigating the  cause,  or  reasoning  upon  the  justice  or  neces- 
sity of  it.  The  mischiefs  which  may  and  must  inevitably 
flow  from  the  execution  of  the  resolves  appear  to  be  end- 
less and  innumerable." 

What,  then,  must  have  been  his  feelings  when  a  stern 
sense  of  duty  compelled  him  to  permit  the  full  execution 
of  the  sentence  of  an  ignominious  death  upon  the  unfortu- 
nate Andre  ?  This  is  one  of  those  melancholy  instances 
where  a  man  deserving  of  a  better  fate  is,  by  the  inscru- 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WASHINGTON.       199 

table  laws  of  Providence,  so  involved  in  the  meshes  of  dif- 
ficulty, that  it  becomes  impossible  to  extricate  him ;  and  it 
is  not  only  the  eye  of  pity  which  weeps,  but  every  noble 
and  manly  heart  bleeds  whilst  the  blow  is  struck,  which, 
it  is  acknowedged,  the  sternness  of  justice  cannot  here  be 
prevented  from  inflicting.  Still,  after  the  lapse  of  more 
than  half  a  century,  the  feeling  exits,  which  will,  perhaps, 
always  continue  strong; — regret  that  it  was  not  Arnold  who 
met  a  well-deserved  fate  from  the  hand  of  the  executioner. 

Deeply  as  Washington  felt  for  the  privations  and  wants 
of  his  soldiers,  he  was,  however,  careful  to  repress  insubor- 
dination. Witness  the  disbanding  a  large  portion  of  the 
Pennsylvania  line  in  the  spring  of  1781,  which,  though  hav- 
ing cause  of  complaint,  yet  took  an  irregular  and  most  per- 
nicious mode  of  seeking  for  redress.  Still  these  men,  in  the 
midst  of  their  misery,  could  not  be  made  traitors  by  the 
allurements  of  the  British  general.  They  gave  up  to  trial 
and  to  execution  the  emissaries  who  had  the  hardihood  to 
enter  upon  their  seduction ;  and  though  worn  down  by  toil 
and  privation,  they  declared  that  they  scorned  to  be  Arnolds. 
The  contagion  of  insubordination,  however,  had  spread  from 
them  to  the  troops  of  New  Jersey;  but  Washington  was 
prepared.  The  mutineers  were  taken  by  surprise,  compelled 
to  parade  without  arms,  two  of  their  ring-leaders  were  tried 
by  a  field  court-martial,  condemned,  and  shot;  and  the 
spirit  of  sedition  having  been  thus  laid,  the  remainder 
made  an  unconditional  submission  and  promise  of  obedience. 

The  exquisite  tact  which  he  possessed  was  exhibited, 
together  with  his  spirit  of  moderation  and  respect  for  the 
feelings  of  his  brothers-in-arms,  at  the  surrender  of  York- 
town.  He  had  with  him  General  Lincoln,  who,  in  deliver- 
ing up  this  our  city  to  the  British  after  a  brave  resistance, 
had  the  mortification  of  being  denied  the  full  honors  of 
war  at  its  evacuation.  In  place,  then,  of  appearing  at  the 
head  of  the  united  forces  of  America  and  France,  with 
the  air  of  a  conqueror,  to  wear  the  trophies  well  won  by 
his  valor,  Washington  sacrificed  this  feeling  to  one  more 


200  THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHL\GTOy. 

noble  and  more  exquisite,  but  to  attain  whose  gratification 
is  the  privilege  of  few  indeed.  Lincoln  had  faithfully  dis- 
charged his  duty,  and  well  merited  the  recompense  which 
he  on  this  occasion  received.  The  British  general,  Lord 
Cornwallis,  desired  to  stipulate  for  his  garrison,  that  it 
should  march  out  with  all  the  honors  of  war  and  the  cus- 
tomary privileges  for  its  officers.  Washington  would  grant 
only  the  same  that  had  been  allowed  by  the  British  gen- 
eral to  the  garrison  of  Charleston;  and  stationed  Lincoln  in 
an  open  space  between  the  respective  staffs  of  the  French 
and  the  American  armies  to  receive,  in  their  view,  the 
surrender  of  the  British  leader  with  exactly  the  same  for- 
malities that  had  been  observed  when  he  made  his  own 
capitulation. 

Need  I  undertake  to  show  that  his  ambition  was  his 
country's  happiness,  and  not  his  own  personal  elevation? 
Advert  to  the  proposal  which  was  made  to  him  at  New- 
burg,  where  an  army  appeared  but  to  wait  his  beck,  to 
protect  him  in  assuming  a  sceptre  and  a  crown.  His  reproof 
contained  none  of  that  language  of  affectation  which  shows 
that  a  refusal  is  made  only  because  the  object  appears  to 
be  unattainable,  or  for  the  purpose  of  having  additional 
entreaty  used  to  overcome  the  seeming  reluctance  of  ardent 
desire 

He  dearly  loved  and  greatly  esteemed  the  valuable  men 
who  shared  in  his  toils  and  dangers.  His  big  heart  dis- 
tended with  unusual  emotions,  when,  on  the  4th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1783,  he  entered  the  room  in  New  York  to  bid  a 
final  adieu  to  the  principal  officers,  his  companions-in-arms. 
The  tear  flowed  on  each  manly  cheek;  he  grasped  firmly 
in  succession  those  hands  that  had  sustained,  together  with 
him,  their  country's  cause.  The  embrace  was  that  of  gen- 
erous soldiers  and  firm  friends ;  not  a  word  was  spoken. 
They  followed  him  in  mute  procession  to  his  barge.  Being 
seated  in  it  for  an  instant,  he  rose ;  and  lifting  his  hat, 
he  waved  it ;  every  head  on  shore  was  uncovered ;  the 
splashing  of  the  oar  and  its  measured  stroke  alone  broke 


THE    CHARACTER   OF  WASHING TOX.  201 

the  silence  of  the  tender,  the  respectful,  the  memorable 
separation  of  those  men,  who,  in  the  face  of  death,  had 
united  to  secure  the  independence  of  our  country. 

It  was  on  the  23d  of  that  month  he  presented  himself 
before  the  Congress  of  Annapolis ;  and  at  the  close  of  an 
appropriate  address,  said :  *  Having  now  finished  the  work 
assigned  me,  I  retire  from  the  great  theatre  of  action;  and 
bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to  this  august  body,  under 
whose  orders  I  have  so  long  acted,  I  here  offer  my  com- 
mission and  take  my  leave  of  all  the  employments  of  public 
life."  He  placed  that  document  in  the  hands  of  the  presi- 
dent and  withdrew,  as  he  fondly  hoped,  to  repair  the  rav- 
ages which  his  property  must  have  suffered,  and  to  repose 
in  the  bosom  of  his  family  after  the  toils  of  such  a  tem- 
pestuous absence.  It  is  unnecessary  to  inform  you  that  he 
would  receive  no  pecuniary  recompense ;  and  here  is  a  copy 
of  the  settlement  of  his  public  accounts.  How  he  enjoyed 
and  sought  for  the  solace  of  private  life  is  expressed  in 
his  own  language  to  Lafayette : 

"  I  am  become  a  private  citizen  on  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac ;  under  the  shadow  of  my  own  vine  and  fig-tree, 
free  from  the  bustle  of  a  camp  and  the  busy  scenes  of 
public  life,  I  am  solacing  myself  with  those  tranquil  enjoy- 
ments, of  which  the  soldier,  who  is  ever  in  pursuit  of  fame 
— the  statesman,  whose  watchful  days  and  sleepless  nights 
are  spent  in  devising  schemes  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his- 
own,  perhaps  the  ruin  of  other  countries,  as  if  this  globe 
was  insufficient  for  us  all — and  the  courtier,  who  is  always 
watching  the  countenance  of  his  prince,  in  hopes  of  catching- 
a  gracious  smile,  can  have  very  little  conception.  I  have 
not  only  retired  from  all  public  employments,  but  I  am 
retiring  within  myself,  and  shall  be  able  to  view  the  soli- 
tary walk  and  tread  the  paths  of  private  life  with  a  heart- 
felt satisfaction.  Envious  of  none,  I  am  determined  to  be 
pleased  with  all ;  and  this,  my  dear  friend,  being  the  order 
of  my  march,  I  will  move  gently  down  the  stream  of  life, 
until  I  sleep  with  my  fathers." 


202  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

To   General  Knox  he  wrote : 

"I  am  just  beginning  to  experience  that  ease  and  free- 
dom from  public  cares  which,  however  desirable,  takes  some 
time  to  realize ;  for,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  it  was  not  till  lately  I  could  get  the 
better  of  my  usual  custom  of  ruminating,  as  soon  as  I 
-waked  in  the  morning,  on  the  business  of  the  ensuing  day; 
and  of  my  surprise  at  finding,  after  revolving  many  things 
in  my  mind,  that  I  was  no  longer  a  public  man,  nor  had 
anything  to  do  with  public  transactions.  I  feel  now,  how- 
ever, as  I  conceive  a  wearied  traveler  must  do,  who,  after 
treading  many  a  painful  step  with  a  heavy  burden  on  his 
shoulders,  is  eased  of  the  latter,  having  reached  the  haven 
to  which  all  the  former  were  directed;  and  from  his  house- 
top is  looking  back  and  tracing  with  an  eager  eye  the 
meanders  by  which  he  escaped  the  quicksands  and  mires 
which  lay  in  his  way,  and  into  which  none  but  the  all- 
powerful  Guide  and  Dispenser  of  human  events  could  have 
prevented  his  falling." 

A  few  years  were  sufficient  to  exhibit  the  imperfection 
of  the  bond  which  held  the  confederation  together  in  the 
period  of  their  struggle.  It  became  inevitable  that  one  of 
two  alternatives  should  be  embraced.  Either  the  Union 
should  be  dissolved,  or  a  new  bond  must  be  devised  by 
which  the*  States  would  be  in  truth  and  in  fact  united. 

The  convention  was  named;  against  his  wishes,  George 
"Washington  was  at  the  head  of  the  Virginia  list.  Yet  was 
he  by  no  means  unprepared;  because  foreseeing  the  possi- 
bility of  being  obliged  to  sacrifice  his  inclinations  to  his 
duty,  he  had  seriously  studied  and  analyzed  the  principles 
of  the  Lycian,  the  Amphyctionic,  the  Achsean,  the  Helvetic, 
the  Belgic,  and  the  Germanic  confederacies ;  he  had  also 
deeply  imbued  his  mind  with  sound  political  information, 
and  closely  observed  the  forms  of  governmental  administra- 
tion. It  is  not  matter  of  surprise  that,  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  he  was  called  upon  to  fill  the  chair  in  that  assembly; 
for  surely  none  was  more  worthy  to  occupy  it.  Neither 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  203 

could  there  be  any  hesitation  when  the  States  ratified  the 
Constitution,  and  it  became  the  expressed  will  of  the  people 
that  it  should  be  their  form  of  government,  as  to  who 
should  undertake  the  task  and  have  the  glory  of  reducing 
its  principles  to  practice.  They  had  in  the  whole  Union 
but  one  man  who  was,  by  universal  acknowledgment,  "  first 
in  war,  first  in  peace,  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country- 
men." And  much  as  we  complain  of  the  injustice  of  the 
world,  and  rationally  as  we  look  for  the  recompense  of 
virtue  in  a  better  state,  still  sometimes  a  mighty  instance 
is  exhibited  of  the  good  feelings  and  the  sense  of  equity 
of  a  nation,  where  we  may  well  use  the  words  of  the 
Trojan  exile  — 

"En  Priamiis!  sunt  bic  etiam  sua  proemia  laudi  !  " 


He  who  ^-ould  not  stoop  to  be  a  king  upon  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  soldiers,  is  raised  by  the  acclamation  of  the 
people  to  be  the  first  President  of  a  free  confederation, 
whose  destinies  are  interwoven  with  the  ruin  or  the  resur- 
rection of  a  hemisphere. 

Assiduous  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  he  encourages  industry, 
he  extends  commerce,  he  regulates  finance,  he  establishes 
credit,  he  organizes  the  departments,  he  selects  and  appoints 
the  officers  and  superintends  their  conduct,  he  establishes 
the  judiciary,  he  allays  jealousies,  he  commences  fortifica- 
tions, he  arranges  the  army,  he  perfects  treaties,  he  vindi- 
cates the  national  honor,  he  gives  the  example  of  a  high 
morality,  and  thus  occupied  during  eight  years  he  sees  his 
country  eminent  among  the  nations,  and  putting  forth  the 
germs  of  a  rich  prosperity.  His  work  is  now,  indeed, 
accomplished  ;  but  ere  he  retires  from  that  station  which 
raised  him  far  above  the  thrones  of  emperors,  he  admon- 
ishes his  children,  for  he  is,  indeed,  the  father  of  his 
country,  of  the  difficulties  by  which  they  are  surrounded  ; 
and  with  the  light  of  wisdom,  the  sagacity  of  experience, 
and  the  affection  of  patriotism,  he  teaches  how  these  may 
be  overcome  or  avoided.  And,  now,  covered  with  the  bene- 


204  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

dictions  of  his  country  and  the  admiration  of  the  world, 
he  retired  again  to  private  life.  There,  after  a  compara- 
tively brief  respite  from  the  toils  of  office,  he  bowed  down 
his  head  in  resignation  to  the  summons  which  called  him 
from  this  transitory  state,  and  passed  to  another  world,  leav- 
ing after  him,  not  the  empty  sound  of  what  is  called  an 
immortal  name,  but  the  mighty  monument  of  that  freedom 
which  we  enjoy,  and  the  glorious  bulwark  of  that  Consti- 
tution by  which  it  is  protected. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  can  speak  no  eulogy  of  Washington* 
Though  separated  from  this  world,  he  lives  in  the  centre 
of  our  hearts ;  his  name  is  a  talisman  of  power,  the  watch- 
word of  freedom,  the  emblem  of  patriotism,  the  shout  of 
victory.  It  casts  around  us  a  halo  of  glory,  for  it  con- 
tinues to  receive  the  homage  of  mankind.  There  have  been 
many  sages,  there  have  been  many  heroes,  there  have  been 
many  legislators — there  is  but  one  Washington. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Washington  Light  Infantry,  you  may 
be  justly  proud  of  the  name  under  which  you  are  enrolled. 
But  let  it  be  to  you,  also,  a  solemn  admonition  to  fulfill 
your  obligations.  Our  volunteer  companies  are  not  formed 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  idle  show,  of  vain  parade,  nor 
for  empty  pageantry.  The  natural  and  safest  bulwark  of 
our  C9untry's  freedom  is  a  well-organized  militia ;  the  chiv- 
alry of  that  militia  should  be  found  in  the  volunteer 
companies.  Yours  bears  the  most  glorious  name  for  an 
American  citizen  soldier.  You  should  emulate  the  bravest, 
the  best  disciplined,  the  most  patriotic  of  those  marshaled 
in  your  country's  service.  You  should  endeavor,  with  the 
noble  rivalship  of  a  soldier's  honor,  but  with  a  soldier's 
affection,  to  permit  no  other  company  to  outstrip  you  in 
the  accomplishments  of  the  armed  citizen.  For  your  country 
and  its  freedom ;  for  your  country  and  its  institutions ;  for 
your  own  sunny  South  and  for  the  whole  Union ;  for  its 
peace  and  for  its  rights ;  for  your  morals,  for  your  disci- 
pline ;  and,  in  that  discipline  the  first  and  the  last  point,  obe- 
dience to  your  officers !  Never  has  your  company  exhibited 


THE   CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  205 

any  deficiency  in  this  respect,  and,  therefore,  it  has  always 
been  efficient  and  respectable.  You  glory  in  the  name  of 
American,  but  you  receive  as  Americans  every  one  whom 
the  laws  of  your  country  recognize  as  such.  You  have  not 
deserted  your  posts,  because  the  fellow-conntrymen  of  him 
who  led  your  armies  to  the  walls  of  Quebec  placed  them- 
selves by  your  side,  to  make  common  cause  with  you  for 
that  land  which  their  acceptance  of  your  conditions  made 
your  common  country.  France,  Germany,  Ireland,  and  Scot- 
land muster  by  your  side,  and  with  them  you  form  a  band  of 
brothers;  uniting,  as  your  Washington  has  done,  your  whole 
force  for  an  irresistible  protection.  Do  not  those  flags  wave 
over  men  who  love  to  gather  round  your  stars,  to  be 
guided  by  your  eagle?  When  you  volunteered  to  protect 
our  brethren  in  Florida,  were  not  the  Germans  your  com- 
panions? Did  not  the  Irish  penetrate  into  its  swamps? 
But  why  do  I  thus  address  you?  Our  generous  South 
has  fully  imbibed  the  spirit  of  our  hero ;  and  we  know 
not  these  mischievous  distinctions.  A  man  loves  not  less 
the  home  of  his  choice,  because  he  recollects  the  spot 
Avhere  he  first  breathed.  The  soldier's  contest  of  emulation 
is  then  noble,  for  it  is  equally  free  from  the  meanness  of 
jealousy,  as  it  is  from  the  folly  of  miserable  and  mis- 
chievous distinctions.  Xor  did  I  need  the  proof  which  you 
have  given,  by  affording  me  this  day's  opportunity  of 
addressing  you,  to  be  convinced  that  the  Washington  Light 
Infantry  possess  largely  that  liberal  sentiment  which  per- 
vades all  our  companies  and  most  of  our  citizens. 

Thank  God,  no  prospect  of  war  now  dims  our  horizon; 
but  the  best  security  for  peace  is  the  power  of  protection. 
Upon  this  principle  you  should  not  relax.  The  best  regu- 
lated State  is  liable  to  unforeseen  derangements,  and  no 
one  can  say  when  an  emergency  may  arise.  It  is  not  when 
action  is  necessary  that  training  should  commence.  The 
knowledge  that  you  are  ready  will  be  the  security  for  your 
repose.  It  was  upon  those  principles  that  upwards  of  thirty 
years  ago  this  company  was  formed  by  one  of  whom  Car- 


206  THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON. 

olina  had  cause  to  be  proud;  one  whose  talents  were  made 
useful  by  his  wisdom;  one  to  whom  senates  looked  for 
counsel,  and  in  whose  integrity  a  continent  confided.  Wil- 
liam Lowndes,  your  first  captain,  your  founder,  perhaps  par- 
took of  the  moral  qualities  of  Washington  in  a  larger 
degree  than  many  who  have  appeared  in  the  councils  of 
the  republic  since  the  establishment  of  our  Constitution; 
and  how  efficiently  the  officers  who  have  since  its  forma- 
tion been  selected  have  fulfilled  the  trust  which  has  been 
reposed  in  them  is  sufficiently  proclaimed  by  the  compara- 
tive smallness  of  tkeir  number.  Your  memory  will  easily 
pass  them  in  review  before  you. 

To  you  has  been  confided,  by  the  honored  widow  of  a 
brave  officer,  one  of  the  most  precious  relics  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  There  is  the  banner  that  was  borne  in  the 
gallant  charge  at  Cowpens,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1781, 
when  the  surge  of  confusion  was  arrested  and  the  tide  of 
war  turned  by  William  Washington  at  the  head  of  his  dra- 
goons. It  then  seemed  a  fiery  meteor  to  the  astonished 
Tarleton,  when  for  the  first  time  the  spell  of  his  success 
was  broken,  and  he  saw  his  veterans  lay  down  their  arms 
at  the  summons  of  the  intrepid  Howard.  The  glory  with 
which  it  that  day  was  radiant  began  to  dissipate  the  gloom 
under  which  Carolina  sat  dejected;  animated  with  hope, 
she  roused  herself  to  new  exertion,  and  her  Sumters  and 
her  Marions  were  again  more  active,  more  bold  and  more 
successful.  Again,  upon  the  field  of  Eutaw,  it  floated  in 
triumph  to  the  joyous  notes  of  the  trumpet  which  pro- 
claimed the  retreat  of  the  enemy  from  the  last  struggle  by 
which  they  sought  to  keep  Carolina  in  thraldom.  "Never 
has  it  been  disgraced  in  my  husband's  possession,"  was  the 
short  speech  of  Mrs.  Washington,  when  she  gave  it  to  your 
company.  The  commander  of  the  host  that  bore  it  through 
peril  and  in  victory  preserved  it  as  a  loved  memorial  at 
the  termination  of  the  war.  General  William  Washington, 
at  his  death,  left  it  in  the  possession  of  his  widow ;  and 
in  the  decline  of  her  days  that  venerable  matron  knew  of 


THE    CHARACTER    OF  WASHINGTON.  207 

no  more  valiant  and  honorable  hands  to  Avhich  she  could 
confide  its  preservation  than  those  of  the  Washington  Light 
Infantry.  Ten  years  have  elapsed  since  it  was  presented 
to  you  through  the  hands  of  that  Lieutenant  Cross,  who 
held  one  of  the  first  commissions  in  your  company  with 
Captain  Lowndes  at  the  period  of  your  formation,  but  who 
had  command  of  the  brigade  on  the  day  that  he  attended 
with  Mrs.  Washington  to  present  it  to  your  guardianship. 
When  you  are  marshaled  under  that  banner,  with  the  love 
of  your  country  in  your  hearts  and  her  arms  in  your 
hands,  you  will  be  faithful  to  the  confidence  reposed  in 
you — your  cry  will  be  "  Cowpens,"  "  Eutaw,"  and  "  Wash- 
ington"— your  path  will  be  the  track  of  honor  and  of 
glory — your  history  will  be  found  upon  the  record  of  fame. 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE  CONGRESS.1 


MY  BRETHREN  : — The  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  I 
find  myself  placed  in  this  respectable  assemblage  are  to  me 
the  cause  of  some  embarrassment;  for  I  look  upon  the 
situation  in  which  I  stand  to  be  one  of  extreme  delicacy. 
I  am  the  minister  of  a  religion  professed  by  a  minority 
of  our  citizens ;  standing,  by  the  permission  of  the  pastor 
of  a  different  communion,  in  accordance  with  the  wish  of 
some  of  my  friends  and  their  associates,  members  of  the 
legislature  of  this  nation,  to  address  you  upon  the  subject  of 
religion.  Whilst  I  know  that  I  ought  to  speak  freely,  I 
also  feel  that  I  should  avoid  any  unpleasant  reference  to 
those  differences  which  exist  between  persons  professing 
Christianity,  except  where  the  necessity  of  the  case  would 
demand  such  reference.  And  I  am  fully  aware  that  as 
I  am  the  first  clergyman  of  the  Church  to  which  I  belong 
who  has  had  the  honor  of  addressing  you  from  this  chair, 
it  must  be  generally  expected  that  I  would  rather  speak 
upon  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  my  own  faith  than  con- 
tent myself  with  giving  a  discourse  upon  any  general  topic, 
that,  as  being  common  to  all,  would  be  to  you  matter  of 
no  special  interest. 

But  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  particular  ground  of  this 
description,  it  will  be  necessary  at  first  to  examine  the 
general  principles  of  our  religion ;  through  these  the  avenue 
lies,  and  through  that  we  must  proceed.  Upon  those  gen- 
eral principles,  I  presume,  I  shall  be  found  to  accord  with 
the  great  bulk  of  my  auditors,  though  I  cannot  hope  that 

1  Preached  In  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  on  Sunday,  January  8,  1830. 

(208) 


JJISUUURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  209 

they  will  all  agree  with  me  in  my  details,  or  rather  m 
my  conclusions.  I  shall  then  commence  by  examining  what 
religion  is,  that  from  this  examination  we  may  arrive  at 
the  proper  place  for  making  our  further  inquiry. 

Eeligion  is  the  homage  which  man  owes  to  God.  This, 
and  this  only,  is  religion ;  everything  is  embraced  in  this 
principle;  no  detail  is  excluded  from  this  definition.  Man's 
duty  to  God  is,  then,  religion.  Thus,  to  know  what  man's 
duty  is,  we  are  brought  to  examine  his  nature.  That 
nature  is  two-fold — spiritual  and  corporeal — the  spirit  superior 
to  the  body,  more  perfect  than  the  body ;  the  first  duty 
of  a  religious  man  is  to  worship  God,  who  is  a  spirit,  in 
spirit  and.  in  truth.  But  to  know  how  this  spiritual  worship 
is  to  be  paid  by  man  to  his  Creator,  Ave  must  learn  of 
what  man's  spirit  consists,  or  rather  we  must  see  what 
faculties  it  embraces.  The  first  faculty  of  the  soul  is  the 
understanding,  by  which  we  discern  truth  from  error. 
Man  is  bound  to  worship  God  by  his  faculties ;  his  lead- 
ing duty  is,  then,  to  worship  God  with  his  understanding; 
and  the  great  province  of  the  understanding  being  to  dis- 
criminate between  truth  and  error,  man's  primary  religious 
obligation  is  to  labor  for  the  discovery  of  truth,  and  to 
adhere  to  what  he  shall  have  thus  discovered.  Truth  and 
falsehood  are  not,  therefore,  matters  of  indifference ;  man's 
obligation  is  to  adhere  to  truth  and  to  reject  falsehood. 
The  exertion  of  the  understanding  for  this  purpose  is  then 
our  first,  our  highest  duty ;  to  neglect  this  is  criminal. 
This  investigation  for  the  discovery  of  religious  truth  is 
the  duty  of  every  human  being ;  each  person  is  bound  to 
inquire  to  the  best  of  his  power;  and  he  who  neglects  or 
overlooks  his  obligation  is  inexcusable. 

But  it  is  not  enough  that  the  understanding  is  enlight- 
ened. It  is  not  for  the  mere  object  of  being  acquainted 
with  speculative  truth  that  he  should  inquire.  The  second 
faculty  of  the  soul  is  the  will ;  its  determinations  are 
formed  with  perfect  freedom ;  generally  upon  the  knowledge 
which  has  been  acquired ;  hence  the  discovery  of  truth 

14 


210  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

should  be  pursued  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the  de- 
terminations of  the  will ;  and  the  homage  of  this  faculty 
is  paid  to  the  Creator  by  continually  determining  to  act 
according  to  the  la\v  of  reason,  as  it  has  been  discovered 
after  sufficient  inquiry. 

Moreover,  we  feel  within  ourselves,  and  all  mankind 
testifies  to  a  similar  experience,  that  after  such  a  result 
we  do  not  always  act  as  we  have  determined.  The  allure- 
ments of  the  world  in  which  we  live,  mutual  example, 
and  a  variety  of  affections,  desires  and  passions,  interfere 
between  the  determinations  of  the  will  and  the  carrying  of 
those  resolutions  into  effect.  But  it  is  our  duty  to  with- 
stand those  allurements,  not  to  be  misled  by  example ;  to 
regulate  our  affections  and  desires,  to  keep  our  passions  in 
subjection  to  our  reasonable  determinations,  and  thus  to  do> 
in  all  things  the  perfect  will  of  God,  which  must  accord 
with  the  great  rule  of  reason. 

Man  is  not  wholly  a  spirit ;  he  is  also  a  material  being, 
having  a  body  and  living  in  a  visible  world,  where  his 
fellow-creatures  are  also  in  bodily  existence.  He  owes  to 
his  Creator  external  homage  with  that  body,  as  well  as  to 
pay  to  the  Author  of  his  whole  being  the  worship  of  all 
its  parts,  as  to  give  evidence  to  others  that  will  at 
the  same  time  satisfy  them  of  his  acting  with  due  re- 
spect to  the  Great  Father  of  all,  as  also  to  excite  his 
brethren  to  religion  by  his  own  good  example.  Pure,  un- 
bodied intelligences  who  worship  before  the  throne  of  the 
Most  High,  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  pay  the  homage  of 
their  whole  being  in  mere  spiritual  adoration,  because  they 
are  altogether  and  exclusively  spiritual  in  their  nature. 
Man,  made  less  than  the  angels,  bears  about  him  a  body 
which  he  has  received  from  the  Creator  of  his  soul — the 
dissimilarity  of  their  natures  destroys  the  analogy  by  which 
it  might  be  sought  to  establish,  that  his  worship  should 
be  in  all  things  similar  to  that  paid  by  a  spirit  having 
no  material  parts  joined  in  his  nature. 

The   plain   result  of  these    considerations    must    be   that   it 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  211 

is  our  duty  to  exert  our  understanding  for  the  discovery 
of  truth,  to  frame  the  determination  of  our  will  according 
to  ascertained  truth,  and  to  carry  those  determinations  into 
eifect,  to  bring  our  affections  into  accordance  with  reason, 
to  keep  our  passions  under  proper  restraint,  and  to  pay  to 
God.  external  homage.  This  is  what  we  call  natural  re- 
ligion :  for  it  is  what  nature  and  reason  exhibit  as  our  duty. 

If  God  never  revealed  His  will  to  man,  we  should  have 
those  great  principles  only  for  ourj  guidance  to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  our  obligations  to  our  Creator.  But  two  questions 
naturally  present  themselves  to  us :  Did  God  ever  make 
special  communications  to  any  of  our  race?  And  if  he 
did,  could  such  revelation  destroy  or  weaken  the  force  of 
the  principles  of  natural  religion? 

To  the  last  question  an  immediate  answer  may  be  un- 
hesitatingly given.  No  revelation  made  by  God  can  destroy 
or  weaken  the  force  of  those  principles.  On  the  contrary, 
such  revelation  must  not  only  be  in  accordance  with  them, 
but  would  tend  rather  to  strengthen  them,  and  to  give 
more  precision  to  their  application.  God,  the  eternal  truth, 
cannot  be  inconsistent  with  Himself.  Truth  cannot  be  con- 
tradictory to  truth.  Human  reason  is  a  spark  emanating 
from  the  great  fire  of  eternal  truth ;  though  extremely  lim- 
ited, yet  it  has  proceeded  from  the  infinite  Deity;  its  slender 
ray  may  too  often  imperfectly  exhibit  what  lies  around  us 
in  the  dark  labyrinth  through  which  we  journey  to  the 
grave ;  and  the  same  objects  would  be  more  fully  exposed 
to  view,  and  more  distinctly  understood,  if  the  effulgence 
of  the  Godhead  poured  its  brilliant  flood  around.  The 
objects  then,  by  either  light,  would  still  continue  unchanged, 
though  their  appearance  would  in  each  case  be  materially 
altered.  What  human  reason  clearly  and  fully  discovers 
cannot  be  known  otherwise  by  the  intelligence  of  God,  and 
His  testimony  by  revelation  would  still  accord  with  His 
testimony  by  human  reason ;  but  too  frequently  we  are 
disposed  to  conclude,  that  we  are  well  acquainted  with  what 
we  very  imperfectly  know,  and  we  assert  that  reason  tes- 


212  DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

tifies  where  it  docs  not.  Hence  there  is  created  an  appa- 
rent conflict  between  what  \ve  say  our  reason  testifies,  and 
what  we  state  that  God  reveals.  But  the  great  duties  of 
natural  religion  are  equally  enforced  by  "both.  If  we  should 
find  that  God  did  make  a  revelation,  there  will  not  be 
anything  found  in  that  revelation  to  weaken  the  principles 
of  natural  religion.  The  first  principle  of  each  is,  that 
man  is  obliged  to  exert  himself  for  the  discovery  of  truth. 
In  a  state  of  mere  nature  we  would  have  only  the  testi- 
mony of  our  own  reason ;  in  a  state  of  revelation  we  have 
the  additional  aid  of  the  testimony  of  God.  Although  the 
one  is  more  extensive  and  more  perfect  than  the  other, 
still  there  can  be  no  conflict  between  them.  Daily  experi- 
ence ought  to  convince  us  how  limited  is  our  knowledge. 
Yet  our  pride  urges  us  to  think  that  we  can  be  acquainted 
with  even  the  secrets  of  the  Godhead.  We  certainly  are 
not,  and  cannot  be  bound  to  believe  without  such  evidence 
as  will  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  mind.  That  evidence 
must  be  the  exhibition  of  truth  to  our  own  reason,  or  our 
perfect  satisfaction  that  we  receive  the  testimony  of  God. 
Without  this  evidence  no  man  is  bound  to  believe.  The 
humblest  individual  who  walks  the  earth  has  not  been  sub- 
jected by  his  Creator  to  any  dominion  which  can  enthral 
his  intellect ;  he  stands  before  his  Maker  as  independent 
in  his  mind  as  does  the  brightest  intelligence  which  scans 
the  perfections  of  the  Deity,  and  glows  in  the  raptures  of 
his  vision.  It  is  true  that  we  are  made  lower  than  the 
ministering  spirits  who  surround  the  throne  of  heaven.  Yet 
we  are  not  made  subject  to  them.  Nor  is  any  man's  mind 
made  subject  to  his  fellow  man.  But  we  all  are  upon  this 
ground  made  originally  equal ;  all  bound  to  believe  God 
when  He  speaks,  all  bound  to  admit  His  infinite  knowl- 
edge, to  testify  to  His  unerring  truth,  and  to  pay  the 
homage  of  our  submission  to  His  declaration.  Every  creat- 
ure must  bow  every  faculty  before  the  Creator,  but  to  the 
Creator  alone.  Thus  we  find  the  fundamental  principles  of 
revealed  religion  to  be,  that  man  is  bound  to  pay  to  God 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  213 

the  homage  of  his  understanding  by  believing  Him  when 
He  makes  a  revelation.  This  belief  is  faith ;  that  is,  the 
belief,  upon  the  testimony  of  God,  of  truths  or  facts  which 
unaided  human  reason  could  not  discover.  And  since  we 
should  exert  ourselves  to  discover  truth,  we  cannot  be 
excused  from  making  the  inquiry  as  to  whether  God  made 
a  revelation,  and  if  He  did  what  were  His  communications? 
Nor  can  it  be  to  us  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  we 
take  up  truth  or  error  for  regulating  the  determinations  of 
our  will.  If  it  was  not  beneath  the  dignity  of  God  to 
stoop  for  the  instruction  of  man,  it  cannot  be  a  degrada- 
tion for  man  to  raise  himself  to  learn  from  his  Creator. 
It  is  his  duty  to  learn  and  to  obey.  The  view  then  given 
by  us  of  revealed  religion  is  that  it  consists  in  believing 
God  when  He  teaches  us,  and  in  obeying  Him  when  He 
commands  us,  and  of  course  adhering  to  His  institutions. 
Whatever  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  this  great  prin- 
ciple we  say  is  religion.  Anything  which  is  not  embraced 
in  this,  is  not  religion.  It  may  be  superstition,  it  may  be 
fanaticism,  it  may  be  infidelity,  it  may  be  folly;  but  it  is  not 
religion.  Faith,  then,  is  not  folly,  it  is  not  abject  slavery 
of  the  mind,  it  is  not  visionary  fanaticism,  it  is  not  irra- 
tional assent  to  unintelligible  propositions ;  but  it  is  be- 
lieving upon  the  testimony  of  God  what  human  reason 
could  not  discover,  but  what  a  provident  and  wise  Deity 
communicates  for  the  information  of  our  minds  and  the 
direction  of  our  will. 

And  surely  there  are  a  multitude  of  truths  which  are 
known  to  God,  and  whose  discovery  is  yet  beyond  the 
reach  of  our  limited  faculties.  AVe  are  surrounded  by  mys- 
teries of  nature ;  we  observe  innumerable  facts,  not  one  of 
which  has  yet  been  explained,  and  many  of  which  would 
be  almost  pronounced  contradictions,  although  known  to  be 
in  co-existence.  Man  is  himself  a  mystery  to  man — yet  the 
God  who  formed  his  body,  and  created  his  soul,  plainly 
sees  and  distinctly  understands  all  the  minute  details  of 
the  wonderful  machine  of  his  body,  and  is  well  acquainted 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

with  his  vital  principle;  the  nature  and  essence  of  the 
soul  are  within  His  view.  He  is  lifted  above  the  heavens; 
His  days  are  from  eternity  to  eternity ;  He  pervades  all 
space ;  His  eye  beholds  the  worlds  which  roll  in  the  firma- 
ment, and  embraces  the  infinite  void ;  all  things  which 
exist  are  exposed  to  His  vision ;  whilst  man,  the  diminu- 
tive speck  upon  a  spot  of  creation,  scarcely  distinguishes 
the  objects  which  dimly  show  within  '  his  confined  horizon ; 
shall  he  presume  to  say  that  nothing  exists  beyond  the 
narrow  precincts  of  his  temporary  prison?  Or,  if  the  God 
of  heaven  declares  some  of  the  riches  which  lie  scattered 
through  His  works ;  if  He  vouchsafes  to  inform  us  of  His 
own  nature  or  of  ours,  that  our  relations  may  be  more 
specifically  understood ;  our  hopes  more  clearly  founded ;  our 
zeal  better  excited;  our  determinations  better  regulated,  and 
our  acts  more  suitably,  and  simply,  and  satisfactorily  directed; 
shall  stunted  little  man  presume  to  say  that  perhaps  he  is 
deceived,  because  he  has  only  the  testimony  of  God,  but 
not  the  testimony  of  his  own  reason?  Does  not  his  own 
reason  tell  him  that  God  neither  can  be  deceived,  nor  can 
He  deceive  His  creatures  ?  Thus  his  own  reason  informs 
man,  that  the  testimony  of  God  making  a  revelation,  is  the- 
very  highest  evidence  of  truth  —  the  surest  ground  cf 
certainty. 

It  might  sometimes  happen,  that  what  is  found  to  have 
been  testified  by  the  Deity  contradicts  what  would  appear, 
to  spine  individuals,  to  have  been  ascertained  by  the  pro- 
cess of  their  own  reasoning.  Our  principle  is  plain ;  God 
cannot  err,  man  frequently  has  erred,  and  is  perpetually 
liable  to  mistake.  If,  then,  we  have  certain  proof  of  the 
declaration  of  the  Creator,  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in 
arriving  at  the  reasonable,  the  practical,  the  correct  result; 
that  result  is  again  our  great  principle — it  is  the  duty  of 
man  to  believe  God  when  He  testifies ;  and  the  simple 
inquiry  will  be  regarding  the  question  of  fact,  "  Has  God 
testified  ? "  If  He  has,  our  doubts  must  cease ;  our  belief 
is  demanded  by  reason  and  by  religion.  Indeed,  they  are 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  215 

never  opposed  to  each  other ;  upon  patient  inquiry  they 
will  always  be  found  mutually  to  aid  each  other.  The  his- 
tory of  the  world  presents  to  us  the  exhibition  of  the 
weakness  of  the  human  mind — perpetually  changing  its 
theories ;  perpetually  adding  to  its  stock  of  information ;  fre- 
quently detecting  its  own  mistakes ;  correcting  its  aberrations, 
and  proving  its  imbecility,  whilst  it  asserts  its  strength. 
The  eternal  God,  infinite  in  His  perfections,  is  always  the 
same ;  in  Him  there  is  no  vicissitude ;  alone,  changeless 
amidst  a  changing  universe;  His  vesture  and  decoration  He 
may  change,  but  He  is  eternally  the  same,  in  His  knowl- 
edge as  in  His  truth;  the  heavens  and  the  earth  may 
pass  away ;  but  His  word  cannot  fail. 

\Ve  are  thus  brought  to  the  simple  inquiry  concerning 
the  fact  of  a  revelation.  The  truth  of  a  fact  must  be 
always  ascertained  by  testimony :  that  testimony  must  be 
such  as  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  produce  conviction  of 
truth,  before  belief  can  be  reasonably  required.  When  that 
sufficient  testimony  has  been  adduced,  to  withhold  belief 
would  be  unreasonable — unreasonable  rejection  of  evidence, 
where  there  is  no  question  as  to  the  revelation  of  God, 
cannot  be  innocent.  The  refusal  to  examine  is  plainly 
against  the  first  principle  of  religion ;  contrary  to  the  plain- 
est maxims  of  reason.  A  mistake  honestly  made  is  par- 
donable, but  the  rejection  of  evidence  must  be  irreligious. 

In  -  examining  whether  revelation  has  been  actually  made, 
we  are  met  by  a  variety  of  preliminary  difficulties,  before 
we  are  permitted  to  enter  upon  the  evidence  of  the  fact ; 
but  I  should  hope  that  a  few  plain  observations  would 
easily  remove  them.  As  I  give  but  a  very  imperfect  out- 
line of  the  ground  of  proof  respecting  this  head,  my  object 
being  rather  to  hasten  forward  to  some  specialties  regard- 
ing that  particular  Church  in  which  I  have  the  honor  of 
being  a  minister,  than  to  dwell  upon  the  general  ground 
which  is  common  to  us  all,  they  must  be  few.  But  there 
is  a  philosophy,  which  endeavors  to  stop  our  progress  at 
this  pass.  Philosophy  did  I  call  it!  No— I  was  wrong  to 


216  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

dignify  it  with  that  appellation.  It  is  a  species  of  perplex- 
ing sophistry,  which,  clothing  itself  in  the  garb  of  rational 
inquiry,  asks  a  thousand  questions,  to  which  neither  itself 
nor  philosophy  can  answer  with  satisfaction.  They  are 
questions  which  bewilder  the  mind,  but  cannot  assist  the 
understanding;  they  are  fully  sufficient  to  show  the  weak- 
ness of  our  reason,  and  to  teach  us  to  distrust  ourselves 
because  of  the  imperfection  of  our  faculties.  But  urged  too 
far,  they  might  force  us  to  conclude  that  we  should  make 
no  exertion,  because  we  are  not  omnipotent;  that  we  should 
make  no  inquiry,  because  we  cannot  elucidate  all  that  is 
dark;  that  we  can  have  no  certainty,  because  there  are 
some  cases  of  doubt ;  and  that  we  have  no  information, 
because  there  is  some  knowledge  beyond  our  reach.  That 
certainly  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  philosophy  which 
would  only  fill  the  world  with  doubts,  and  conjectures,  and 
probabilities,  instead  of  knowledge  of  fact  founded  upon 
evidence  of  testimony.  Sophistry,  having  led  you  from  your 
plain  path  and  bewildered  you  in  a  labyrinth,  by  turns 
smiles  at  your  folly,  sheds  the  tear  of  mocking  condolence 
for  your  degradation,  and  sneers  at  your  baffled  efforts  to 
extricate  yourself.  Calm  and  dignified  philosophy  unfolds 
to  you  the  plain  evidence  of  facts ;  and  having  fully  estab- 
lished the  truth  of  the  fact,  draws  thence  the  irresistible 
conclusion ;  thus  leading  in  a  way  in  which  even  fools  can- 
not err.  This  is  the  path  of  religion. 

I  may  be  asked,  when  will  man  know  that  he  has  evi- 
dence of  fact;  and  how  shall  he  know  it?  There  are 
some  questions  which  are  more  plainly  answered  by  our 
conviction  than  by  any  induction.  The  feeling  of  the  evi- 
dence is  so  strong  that  we  can,  by  the  very  expression  of 
the  feeling,  testify  to  others  what  they  know,  because  they 
too  feel  as  we  do,  and  they  know  that  we  should,  by  any 
attempt  at  inductive  proof,  make  perfectly  obscure  that 
which,  without  this  effort,  would  be  fully  and  confessedly 
evident.  Ask  me  how  I  know  that  I  have  evidence  of 
light  being  now  diffused  around  me;  how  you  have  cvi- 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  217 

dence  that  I  now  address  you ;  how  we  all  have  evidence 
of  our  existence ;  who  will  undertake,  by  any  process  of 
reasoning,  to  produce  a  stronger  feeling  of  conviction  than 
exists  by  the  very  feeling  of  the  evidence?  Nor  have  we 
any  form  of  expression  which  would  carry  more  conviction 
to  the  mind  than  that  which  announces  the  feeling  itself; 
each  individual  will  know  when  that  feeling  exists  within 
him.  No  speculation  will  aid  him  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
fact;  and  where  the  general  testimony  of  mankind  is  given 
to  the  existence  of  this  feeling,  it  cannot  but  have  an  inti- 
mate connection  with  truth.  If  it  had  not,  the  God  who> 
formed  our  nature,  such  as  it  is,  would  have  placed  us 
under  a  delusion  from  which  we  could  not  be  extricated ;  and 
the  assertion  of  this  not  only  would  destroy  every  criterion 
by  which  truth  could  be  distingushed  from  error,  but  would 
be  blasphemy  against  the  Creator  of  the  universe. 

Let  us  come  to  view  how  we  ascertain  the  fact  of  reve- 
lation. If  there  is  any  special  work  which  is  so  peculiarly 
and  exclusively  that  of  an  individual,  as  that  it  can  be 
performed  by  no  other,  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  that 
work  establishes  the  fact  of  his  presence;  and  if  his  pres- 
ence is  a  testimony  by  him  of  his  concurrence  in  declara- 
tions then  made,  he  is  reponsible  for  the  truth  of  those 
declarations.  We  believe  miracles  to  be  works  above 
the  power  of  created  beings,  and  requiring  the  immediate 
presence  and  agency  of  the  Divinity,  and  given  by  Him 
as  the  proof  of  His  commission  to  the  individuals  or  socie- 
ties whom  He  makes  witnesses  to  men  of  truth  revealed 
by  Him.  The  feeling  of  the  miracle  being  evidence  of 
His  presence  for  this  purpose,  is  so  general,  and  its  tes- 
timony so  fully  given  by  the  human  race,  as  well  by 
their  spontaneous  declaration  as  by  their  whole  course  of 
conduct,  that  it  would  argue  in  our  Creator  Himself  a 
total  disregard  for  man's  information,  if  He  permitted  its- 
existence  during  so  many  centuries,  and  with  such  inevita- 
ble results,  unless  it  were  a  criterion  of  truth.  The  same 
consequences  would  necessarily  follow  from  a  permission,  on 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

the  part  of  God,  of  a  general  delusion  of  mankind  as  to 
the  species  of  works  that  were  miraculous.  When  the  feeling 
generally  existed,  and  was  acted  upon  most  extensively 
during  a  long  series  of  ages,  that  works  of  a  peculiar 
•description  were  emphatically  miracles,  and  that  the  per- 
formance of  those  miracles  was  an  undoubted  proof  of  God's 
presence  to  uphold  the  truth  of  the  declarations  made  in 
His  name  by  the  agents  or  the  instruments  used  in  these 
Avorks:  the  Author  of  our  nature  would  be  chargeable  with 
aiding  in  our  delusion,  if  He  did  not,  as  He  could,  and 
.as  His  perfections  would  demand,  interfere  to  correct  the 
error. 

Our  next  observation  must  regard  the  quantity  of  testi- 
mony which  would  be  required  to  prove  one  of  those 
miraculous  facts.  The  assertion  has  sometimes  been  made, 
that  more  than  usually  would  suffice  for  establishing  an 
-ordinary  fact,  would  be  necessary  to  prove  the  existence  of 
a,  miracle.  We  altogether  dissent  from  this  position.  The 
facts,  in  the  one  case,  are  precisely  as  obvious  to  exam- 
ination as  in  the  other.  Strange  as  the  assertion  which  I 
am  about  to  make  will  probably  appear  to  many  who  have 
honored  me  with  their  attention,  I  plainly  say  that  it  will 
be  found,  upon  reflection,  that  there  is  far  less  danger  of 
deceit  or  mistake  in  the  examination  of  a  miraculous  fact, 
than  there  is  in  one  of  ordinary  occurrence.  The  reason 
is  simple,  and  I  believe  natural  and  evidently  sufficient. 
The  mind  is  less  liable  to  be  imposed  upon,  when  its  curi- 
osity is  greatly  excited,  and  when  its  jealousy  and  suspi- 
cions are  awakened,  than  when  it  is  prepared  to  expect 
and  to  admit  what  it  is  daily,  perhaps  hourly,  in  the  habit 
of  expecting  and  admitting.  Ordinary  events  excite  no  curi- 
osity, create  no  surprise,  and  there  is  no  difficulty  in  admit- 
ting, that  what  has  frequently  occurred  occurs  again ;  the 
statement  of  such  an  occurrence  will  easily  pass ;  but  the 
state  of  the  mind  is  widely  different,  when  we  eagerly  seek 
to  ascertain  whether  what  has  never  been  witnessed  by  us 
before,  has  now  come  under  our  observation,  or  whether 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  219 

we  have  not  been  under  some  delusion;  whether  an  attempt 
has  not  been  made  to  deceive  us.  We,  in  such  a  case, 
become  extremely  jealous ;  we  examine  with  more  than 
ordinary  care,  and  we  run  less  risk  of  being  deceived  or 
mistaken. 

No  person  doubts  the  power  of  the  Creator,  the  supreme 
Legislator  and  Preserver  of  the  universe,  to  suspend  any 
law  of  nature  in  the  course  of  its  operation,  or  to  select 
some  individual  case  which  He  will  except  from  the  opera- 
tion of  that  law,  and  during  His  own  pleasure.  The  ques- 
tion can  never  be  as  to  this  power,  as  to  the  possibility 
of  a  miraculous  interference ;  but  it  always  must  regard 
the  fact,  and  that  fact  must  be  established  by  testimony, 
and  without  the  evidence  of  testimony,  no  person  who  was 
not  present  can  be  required  to  believe.  There  does  not 
and  cannot  exist  any  individual  or  tribunal,  with  power  to 
require  or  command  the  humblest  mortal  to  believe  with- 
out evidence. 

There  is  no  place  in  which  the  rules  of  evidence  are 
better  understood  or  more  accurately  observed  than  in  our 
respectable  courts  of  law.  Permit  me,  for  the  moment,  to 
bring  your  attention  to  one  of  those  cases  which  frequently 
presents  itself  to  the  view  of  our  citizens.  There  stands  a 
citizen  charged  with  the  murder  of  his  fellow-man.  Long 
experience,  deep  study,  unsullied  purity,  calm  impartiality, 
and  patience  for  investigati  n,  form  the  judicial  character ; 
they  are  found  upon  the  bench.  Steady  integrity,  the  power 
of  discrimination,  the  love  of  justice,  a  deep  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  community,  and  the  sanction  of  a  solemn 
pledge  to  heaven,  are  all  found  in  the  jury.  The  public 
eye  is  upon  them,  and  the  supreme  tribunal  of  public 
opinion,  after  an  open  hearing  of  the  case,  is  to  pronounce 
upon  the  judges  and  the  jurors  themselves.  The  life  or 
death,  the  fame  or  infamy  of  the  accused  lies  with  them, 
and  is  in  their  keeping,  at  the  peril  of  their  feelings,  their 
character,  their  conscience,  and  their  souls.  The  decision 
must  be  made  by  the  evidence  arising  from  testimony,  and 


220  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

that  the  testimony  of  men,  and  those  men  liable  to  all 
the  weakness  and  all  the  bad  passions  of  humanity ;  yet 
here,  in  this  important  case,  a  solemn  decision  must  be 
made.  That  jury  must  be  satisfied  that  the  person  now 
said  to  be  dead  was  living,  that  he  is  now  dead,  that  the 
change  from  life  to  death  was  produced  by  the  act  of  their 
fellow-citizen  now  arraigned  before  them;  that  this  act  was 
done  with  sufficient  deliberation  to  proceed  from  malicious 
intent ;  that  for  this  act  he  had  no  authority ;  he  who  was 
deprived  of  life  being  a  peaceable  person,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  State.  In  this  there  is  frequently  much  per- 
plexity, and  little  testimony,  and  that  testimony  frequently 
regarding  not  the  substantial  ingredients  of  the  crime,  but 
establishing  facts,  from  which  those  that  form  the  in- 
gredients are  only  derived  by  inference.  Still  we  find 
convictions  and  have  executions,  and  the  jury,  with  the  appro- 
bation of  the  bench,  and  the  assent  of  the  community, 
unhesitatingly  put  on  solemn  record  their  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  facts  which  they  never  saw,  and  of  which  they 
have  only  the  testimony  of  their  fellow-men;  and  upon  this 
testimony  society  agrees  that  property,  liberty,  life  and  fame, 
shall  all  be  disposed  of  with  perfect  assurance  of  truth 
and  justice. 

I  will  now  suppose  that  court  constituted  as  I  have 
described,  and  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  fact  of 
murder.  A  number  of  respectable  witnesses  depose  to  the 
fact  of  the  person  stated  to  be  slain  having  been  alive. 
They  were  in  habits  of  intimacy  with  him,  were  his  com- 
panions during  years,  some  of  them  have  seen  his  dead 
body,  in  presence  of  others  who  also  testify  to  their  having 
seen  and  examined  that  body ;  those  last  were  present  when 
the  prisoner,  with  perfect  deliberation,  inflicted  a  wound 
upon  the  deceased.  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
identity  of  the  deceased,  and  there  is  none  as  to  the  identity 
of  the  prisoner.  A  number  of  physicians  testify  their  opinion 
as  to  the  wound  so  given,  and  which  they  examined,  being 
a  sufficient  cause  of  death.  The  accused  produces  no  author- 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  221 

ity  for  Ills  act;  there  has  been  no  process  of  law  against 
the  deceased,  who  was  a  peaceable  and  well-conducted  citi- 
zen. How  could  that  jury  hesitate  ?  They  must,  painful 
as  is  the  task,  they  must  consign  the  unfortunate  culprit  to 
the  just  vengeance  of  the  law ;  the  judge  must  deliver  him 
to  the  executioner,  and  the  public  record  of  the  State  must 
exhibit  his  infamy.  Life  and  character  must  both  disap- 
pear ;  they  are  swept  away  by  the  irresistible  force  of 
evidence,  founded  upon  human  testimony.  The  widow  must 
hang  her  head  in  shame ;  in  the  recess  of  her  dwelling 
she  must  sit  in  lonely,  disconsolate,  unsupported  grief;  the 
orphans  blush  to  bear  their  father's  name ;  the  brothers 
would  forget  their  kindred ;  and  perhaps  even  gray  hairs 
would  gladly  bow  still  lower,  compelled  by  grief  and  years 
to  court  the  concealment  of  the  grave. 

Still,  when  a  fact  becomes  evident  from  the  examination 
of  testimony,  we  must  yield  our  assent  to  that  fact,  with- 
out regarding  its  consequences. 

Let  me  continue  my  supposition.  Before  the  dissolution 
of  that  court,  whilst  it  is  yet  in  session,  the  jury  still 
occupying  their  seats  —  a  rush  is  made  into  the  hall — the 
same  identical  witnesses  appear  again ;  but  they  are  accom- 
panied by  the  deceased,  now  raised  to  life.  They  testify  that, 
as  they  were  departing  from  the  court,  a  man,  whom  they 
produce,  proclaimed  that  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Most 
High  to  deliver  His  great  behests  to  his  fellow-men ;  and 
that  to  prove  the  validity  of  his  commission,  he  summoned 
them  to  accompany  him  to  the  tomb  of  the  man  whose  death 
they  had  so  fully  proved,  and  that  by  an  appeal  to  heaven 
for  the  authenticity  of  his  commission,  the  man  should 
revive.  They  went — they  saw  the  body  in  the  grave  —  the 
claimant  upon  heaven  called  upon  the  eternal  God  to  show 
that  He  had  sent  him  to  teach  his  fellow-men.  He  calls  the 
deceased — the  body  rises — the  dead  has  come  to  life.  He 
accompanies  them  to  the  court;  he  is  recognized  by  his 
acquaintances — confessed  by  his  friends — felt  by  the  people ; 
lie  speaks,  he  breathes — he  moves,  he  eats,  he  drinks,  lie 


222  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

lives  amongst  them.  Can  that  court  refuse  to  say  that  it 
is  satisfied  of  the  fact  of  the  resuscitation  ?  What  would 
any  honest  man  think  of  the  members  of  that  jury  should 
they  swear  that  this  man  had  not  been  resuscitated  by  the 
interference  of  that  individual  who  thus  proves  his  com- 
mission ?  If  that  jury  could,  upon  the  testimony  of  those 
witnesses,  find  the  first  fact,  why  shall  they  not,  upon  the 
same  testimony,  find  the  second? 

But,  we  may  be  asked,  how  we  know  that  this  man  was- 
dead?  Probably  it  was  only  a  mistake.  He  could  not  have 
been  totally  bereft  of  life.  Ask  the  jury,  who,  upon  the 
certainty  of  the  fact  of  death,  consigned  their  fellow-citizen 
to  infamy  and  to  the  gallows.  Shall  we  admit  the  certainty 
for  the  purposes  of  human  justice,  and  quibble  with  our 
convictions  to  exclude  the  testimony  of  heaven?  This, 
indeed,  would  be  a  miserable  sophistry.  "Would  any  court 
upon  such  a  plea,  so  unsupported,  issue  a  respite  from 
execution?  An  isolated  perhaps,  with  nothing  to  rest  upon, 
set  up  against  positive  testimony,  resting  upon  the  uncon- 
tradicted  evidence  derived  from  the  senses,  from  experience, 
and  from  analogy;  a  speculative  possibility  against  a  sub- 
stantive fact,  by  which  the  very  possibility  is  destroyed ! 

Where  is  the  cause  of  doubt?  Where  the  difference 
between  the  two  cases?  In  both  suppositions  the  essential 
facts  are  the  same — life,  death  —  identity;  the  difference 
consists  in  the  accidental  circumstances  of  the  priority  of  one 
to  the  other.  The  one  is  the  ordinary  transition  from  life 
to  death,  an  occurrence  which  is  to  us  most  mysterious  and 
inexplicable,  but  with  the  existence  of  which  we  are  long 
familiar;  the  other  a  transition  from  death  to  life,  not  more 
mysterious  but  which  rarely  occurs,  and  when  it  does  occur, 
is  most  closely  examined,  viewed  with  jealous  scrutiny,  and 
which  excites  deep  interest,  and  to  admit  the  truth  of 
which  there  is  no  predisposition  in  the  mind.  The  facts 
are  precisely  the  same  in  the  case  of  the  murder  and 
of  the  miracle ;  the  accident  of  the  priority  of  one  to 
the  other  constitutes  the  whole  difference.  And  surely  if 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  223 

witnesses  ~an  tell  me  that  a  man  who  has  never  died  shows 
all  the  symptoms  of  life,  the  same  witnesses  can  tell  me  the 
same  fact,  though  that  man  had  passed  from  death  to  life. 
The  symptoms  of  life  are  always  the  same,  and  the  testimony 
which  will  establish  the  fact  of  life  at  one  time,  by  proving 
the  existence  of  those  symptoms,  will  be  at  any  time  sufficient 
for  the  same  purpose.  The  same  is  to  be  said  of  the 
symptoms  of  death  and  of  the  testimony  which  will  establish 
the  fact  by  proving  their  existence.  It  may  be  objected  that 
no  adequate  cause  is  assigned  for  this  extraordinary  occur- 
rence. The  answer  is  twofold.  To  be  convinced  of  the  truth. 
of  a  fact,  it  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  know  the  cause 
of  its  existence ;  it  suffices  for  me  to  know  the  existence 
of  the  fact  itself,  and  its  existence  will  not  be  the  less  certain 
though  I  should  never  be  able  to  discover  the  cause.  How 
many  facts  do  we  every  day  witness,  whose  causes  are  still 
to  us  inaccessible  and  undiscovered!  Next:  An  adequate 
cause  is  here  distinctly  pointed  out  and  referred  to.  He 
who  first  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of  man,  whom  He  fash- 
ioned from  the  dust,  a  living  soul,  is  now  equally  powerful 
to  call  back  the  departed  spirit  to  its  mouldering  tenement 
of  clay. 

In  the  Mosaic — in  the  Christian  dispensation,  what  multi- 
tudes of  miraculous  facts  attest  the  presence  of  the  Deity — 
the  revelations  of  heaven !  During  what  a  length  of  time 
were  not  those  facts  open  to  every  species  of  examination ! 
How  favorable  were  the  circumstances  for  the  detection  of 
imposition,  for  the  exposure  of  fanaticism,  for  the  ridicule  of 
folly,  if  the  impostor,  the  fanatic,  or  the  fool  had  claimed 
to  be  the  messenger  of  heaven !  Thus  we  believe  that  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  instructed  man  in  the 
doctrines  of  truth,  had  authority  to  prescribe  laws  of  morality, 
and  founded  institutions  to  which  we  are  religiously  bound 
unalterably  to  adhere.  If  the  miraculous  facts,  which  estab- 
lish this  conclusion,  are  not  in  full  evidence,  I,  for  one, 
must  profess  that  I  must  blot  from  my  mind  all  that  I  have 
been  ever  led  to  believe  were  facts  of  history. 


224  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

A  peculiarity  of  our  religion  is,  that  we  may  at  any  moment 
risk  its  truth  or  falsehood  upon  the  truth  or  falsehood  of 
the  statement  of  any  one  or  the  whole  of  a  vast  variety  of 
facts.  We  know  nothing  of  speculation,  we  know  nothing 
of  opinion.  Opinions  form  no  part  of  our  religion.  It  is 
all  a  statement  of  facts,  and  the  truth  of  those  facts  can  at 
any  moment  be  brought  to  the  test.  With  this  we  stand  or 
fall.  Allow  me  to  adduce  one  fact  as  an  instance  and  an 
illustration. 

The  Founder  of  our  Church,  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  not  a  stone 
should  be  left  upon  another  of  the  mighty  mass  of  the 
splendid  temple.  One  of  our  prophets  foretold  that  upon 
the  establishment  of  the  new  law  which  we  profess,  the 
sacrifice  should  cease,  and  never  be  restored,  in  that  temple. 
The  sacrifice  did  cease  —  the  city  was  sacked — the  temple 
was  destroyed: — the  Christians  proclaimed  that  the  temple 
would  never  be  rebuilt,  the  sacrifice  would  never  be  restored. 
The  Roman  emperor  Julian,  having  apostatized  from  the 
faith,  was  determined  to  humble  the  Church  which  he 
had  deserted,  and  by  establishing  one  fact  to  defeat  their 
prophecy,  to  prove  the  delusion  of  the  Nazarenes  or  Galileans, 
as  he  termed  the  Christians.  With  the  wealth  of  the  Roman 
empire,  the  power  of  his  sceptre,  the  influence  of  his  place, 
and  the  devotion  of  the  most  zealous  people  under  heaven, 
he  made  the  attempt.  The  whole  Jewish  people,  animated 
with  love  of  country  and  of  religion,  cheered  by  their  neigh- 
bors, urged  on  by  their  emperor,  flattered  by  his  court, 
undertook  the  work.  They  rooted  up  the  old  foundations 
of  the  temple,  until  indeed  there  was  not  left  a  stone  upon 
a  stone ;  they  prepared  to  rebuild.  History  testifies  their 
disappointment.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  a  bishop  of  our  Church, 
and  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  the  emperor's  historian,  a  Chris- 
tian and  a  pagan,  together  with  a  cloud  of  other  witnesses, 
inform  us  of  their  discomfiture.  Centuries  have  elapsed. 
The  prophecy  and  the  attempt  are  both  on  record.  To-day 
we  say,  as  our  predecessors  said  then :  "  Build  that  temple, 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  225 

offer  one  sacrifice  according  to  the  Mosaic  rites  within  its 
walls,  and  we  acknowledge  our  delusion."  But  we  cannot, 
for  any  speculative  opinions  of  philosophers,  abandon  the 
evidence  of  miracles,  of  prophecy,  and  of  history  united. 

My  brethren,  1  come  now  to  a  new  part  of  my  subject. 
"VYe  have  seen  that  our  blessed  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  made 
a  revelation  to  the  human  race ;  our  next  and  very  natural 
inquiry  must  be  to  discover  how  we  shall  ascertain  what  that 
revelation  is.  This  is  the  place  where  we  arrive  at  the 
essential  distinction  between  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
and  every  other;  it  is,  indeed,  upon  this  question  the  whole 
difference  turns ;  and  to  this  it  must  be  always  brought  back. 
The  doctrine  which,  as  a  prelate  of  that  Church,  and  from 
my  own  conscientious  conviction,  I  preach,  differs  very 
widely  indeed  from  what  is  generally  professed  and  acted 
upon  by  the  great  majority  of  our  citizens,  and  by  a  vast 
portion  of  the  respectable  and  enlightened  assemblage  wnich 
surrounds  me.  I  shall  state  our  doctrine  fully  upon  this 
head;  but  I  do  not  feel  that  it  would  be  correct  or  delicate 
on  my  part  to  enter  at  present  upon  the  field  of  polemics 
for  its  vindication.  Still  it  will  be  permitted  that  I  give 
an  outline,  imperfect  and  defective  it  must  be,  for  the  cause 
which  I  have  assigned,  of  the  reasons  for  that  faith  which 
is  in  us. 

And  here  let  me  assure  you  that  if,  in  the  course  of  my 
observations,  any  expression  should  escape  from  me  that  may 
appear  calculated  to  wound  the  feelings  of  those  from  whom 
I  differ,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  assail,  to  insult,  or  to  give 
pain ;  and  that  I  may  be  pardoned  for  what  will  be  in  truth 
an  inconsiderate  expression,  not  intended  to  offend.  Neither 
my  own  feelings,  nor  my  judgment,  nor  my  faith  would 
dictate  to  me  anything  calculated  to  embitter  the  feelings  of 
those  who  differ  from  me — merely  for  that  difference.  My 
kindest  friends,  my  most  intimate  acquaintance,  they  whom 
I  do  and  ought  to  esteem  and  respect,  are  at  variance  with 
my  creed;  yet  it. does  not  and  shall  not  destroy  our  affection. 
In  me  it  would  be  ingratitude;  for  I  must  avow,  and  I  do 

15 


226  DISCOURSE   UEFORE    CONGRESS. 

it  most  willingly,  that  in  my  journeys  through  our  States 
I  have  been  frequently  humbled  and  abashed  at  the  kind- 
ness with  which  I  have  been  treated.  I  came  amongst  you 
a  stranger,  and  I  went  through  your  land  with  many  and 
most  serious  and  unfortunate  mistakes,  for  which  you  were 
not  blamable,  operating  to  my  disadvantage.  If  a  Roman 
Catholic  bishop  were  in  truth  what  he  is  even  now  generally 
supposed  to  be,  in  various  parts  of  this  Union,  lie  should  not 
be  permitted  to  reside  amongst  you ;  yet  was  I  received  into 
your  houses,  enrolled  in  your  families,  and  profited  by  your 
kindness.  I  have  frequently  put  the  question  to  myself 
whether,  if  I  had  similar  impressions  regarding  you,  I  could 
have  acted  with  the  like  kindness;  and  I  must  own,  I 
frequently  doubted  that  I  would.  It  is  true,  you  labored 
under  serious  mistakes  as  to  what  was  my  religion,  and  what 
were  my  duties  and  my  obligations.  But  you  were  not 
yourselves  the  authors  of  those  mistakes ;  nor  had  you  within 
your  reach  the  means  of  correcting  them.  I  feel  grateful  to 
my  friends  who  have  afforded  me  this  opportunity  of  perhaps 
aiding  to  do  away  with  those  impressions ;  for  our  affections 
will  be  more  strong  as  those  mistakes  will  be  corrected; 
and  it  must  gratify  those  who,  loving  the  country,  behold 
us  spread  through  it,  to  be  assured,  that  we  are  not  those 
vile  beings  that  have  been  painted  to  their  imaginations, 
and  which  ought  not  to  be  allowed  existence  in  any  civilized 
community. 

Upon  our  principles,  my  brethren,  we  must  not  speculate; 
we  must  always  keep  our  eye  steadily  upon  facts.  The 
wisest  man  might  be  misled  in  speculation ;  might  make 
great  mistakes  in  forming  opinions ;  but  if  he  has  evidence 
of  a  fact  he  has  ground  upon  which  he  can  rest  with 
certainty;  and  the  inevitable  consequence  of  that  fact  pro- 
duces certainty  also.  Let  us  then  look  for  facts  instead  of 
hazarding  conjectures  or  maintaining  opinions. 

It  is  a  fact  that  our  blessed  Redeemer  did  not  write  His 
communications;  it  is  equally  certain  that  He  neither  gave 
a  command  nor  a  commission  to  have  them  written.  It  is  a 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  227 

fact,  that  His  religion  was  fully  and  extensively  established 
before  any  part  of  the  Scriptures  of  our  new  law  was  com- 
mitted to  writing.  We  therefore  believe  it  to  be  evident 
that  our  religion  was  not  established  by  the  dissemination 
of  writings. 

We  have  abundant  testimony  to  show  that  our  blessed 
Redeemer,  besides  having  publicly  taught  the  people,  selected 
a  few  persons  whom  he  more  fully  instructed  and  duly 
authorized  to  teach  also.  They  were  His  companions  during 
life,  and  after  His  death  they  were  the  promulgators  of  His 
doctriue.  Their  commission  from  Him  was  not  to  become 
philosophers,  discussing  what  was  probably  the  nature  of 
God  and  the  obligation  of  man,  and  examining  what  means 
they  would  esteem  to  be  most  likely  to  lead  mankind  to 
eternal  happiness.  They  were  constituted  witnesses  to  others, 
to  testify  what  the  Saviour  revealed  to  them,  and  to  speak 
of  positive  facts  with  undoubting  certainty;  to  state  what 
He  actually  told,  what  He  precisely  commanded,  what  He 
positively  instituted,  and  for  what  purpose,  and  what  were 
to  be  the  consequences.  All  this  was  matter-of-fact  testified 
by  witnesses,  not  discovered  by  disquisitions  of  philosophy. 
The  teachers  were  not  to  add,  they  were  not  to  diminish, 
they  were  not  to  change;  the  perfection  of  the  revelation 
consisted  in  preserving  the  account  purely  unchanged.  We 
find  it  is  a  fact  that  others  were  added  to  the  commission 
of  teachers.  The  very  nature  of  the  case  exhibited  the 
necessity  of  such  addition,  because  the  original  commissioners 
would  not  suffice  for  the  multitude  to  be  taught.  Natural 
reason  pointed  out  the  course  which  testimony  shows  us  was 
followed.  They  who  were  originally  constituted  by  the 
Redeemer  to  form  the  teaching  tribunal,  selected  those  whom 
they  found  best  instructed,  and  being  satisfied  of  their 
integrity  by  the  testimony  of  those  who  had  long  known 
them,  they  were  themselves  judges  of  their  full  acquaintance 
with  the  truths  which  were  to  be  taught  and  of  their  ability. 
They  ordained  them  as  fellow-witnesses,  extended  to  them 
the  power  of  the  commission,  and  thus  in  every  city  were 


228  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

chosen  faithful  men,  who  might  be  fit  to  teach  others  that 
form  of  sound  words  which  had  been  committed  to  them- 
selves before  many  witnesses.  The  people  who  heard  the 
testimony  of  the  first  teachers  were  also  capable  of  observing 
if  any  deviation  had  been  made  by  their  successors.  Those 
first  teachers  and  their  associates  were  scattered  abroad 
widely  through  the  world,  but  in  all  places  they  taught  the 
same  things,  for  truth  could  not  be  contradictory.  Some 
persons  sought  after  novelties,  and  separated  from  the  great 
body,  which  itself  remained  united  in  government  and  in 
doctrine,  though  widely  scattered  through  the  world.  Those 
isolated  and  independent  divisions  followed  each  some  theory 
of  its  own,  having  some  peculiarity  by  which  each  was 
distinguished  from  the  other,  each  judging  and  deciding  for 
itself,  and  each  claiming  to  have  preserved  the  true  doctrine. 
This  state  of  things  existed  almost  at  the  very  origin  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  has  since  continued  more  or  less 
extensively.  It  was  not  until  the  eighth  year  after  the 
ascension  of  our  Lord,  or  the  year  41  of  our  era,  that  the 
first  part  of  the  New  Testament  was  written  by  St.  Matthew, 
who  was  one  of  the  earliest  companions  of  the  Saviour  and 
an  Apostle.  Many  of  the  Christians  had  committed  to 
writing  several  facts  and  discourses  which  they  had  learned. 
Many  of  their  accounts  contained  much  that  has  never 
reached  us.  Some  years  afterwards,  St.  Mark,  who  was  not 
an  Apostle,  but  who  was  a  companion  of  St.  Peter,  the 
president  of  the  apostolic  body,  first  in  honor  and  first  in 
jurisdiction,  abridged  much  of  what  St.  Matthew  had  written, 
and  added  much  of  his  own,  which  lie  had  probably  learned 
from  St.  Peter.  Those  books  had  a  limited  circulation 
amongst  the  Christians  in  some  places,  but  highly  as  they 
were  valued,  they  were  not  looked  upon  as  the  exclusive 
evidence  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the  very 
fact,  which  is  of  course  incontestable,  that  a  vast  quantity 
of  what  we  all  now  receive  as  His  doctrine  is  not  contained 
in  them,  but  was  subsequently  written,  renders  it  impossible 
for  any  of  us  to  assume  this  principle.  In  the  year  53  of 
our  era,  St.  Luke,  who  was  a  physician  in  Antioch,  and 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  229 

who  had  been  occasionally  a  companion  of  St.  Paul,  and 
had  conversed  with  many  of  the  other  disciples  and 
Apostles,  began  to  write  his  Gospel  from  the  accounts 
collected  through  others,  and  chiefly  to  counteract  the  circula- 
tion of  many  erroneous  accounts  which  were  written.  He 
probably  had  not  seen  either  of  the  two  Gospels  written  by 
Matthew  or  Mark.  About  ten  years  after  this,  he  wrote  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  a  continuation  of  his  history,  and  in 
it  he  principally  confines  himself  to  the  account  of  the  labors 
of  St.  Paul,  as  he  was  his  companion,  and  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  his  proceedings.  Upwards  of  thirty 
years  more  elapsed  before  St.  John  wrote  his  Gospel  at  the 
request  of  the  Churches  of  Asia  Minor,  in  order  to  testify 
against  the  errors  of  several  persons  who  then  troubled  those 
Churches  with  their  speculations  and  imaginations.  He  had 
previously  written  his  book  of  Revelations,  being  an  obscure 
prophecy  of  some  future  events  blended  with  history  and 
vision.  He  had  written  some  epistles  to  Churches  and  to 
individuals  on  particular  occasions.  St.  Paul,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties,  had  been  sometimes  consulted  upon 
particular  questions  by  Churches  which  he  had  founded  or 
visited ;  and  some  of  his  epistles  are  extant,  in  which  he 
answers  their  difficulties,  gives  them  instruction  suitable  to 
their  circumstances,  and  makes  several  regulations.  He  also 
wrote  on  other  occasions  to  Churches  and  to  individuals,  as 
did  three  or  four  of  the  other  Apostles;  some  of  those  letters 
remain ;  we  are  informed,  and  think  it  not  unlikely,  that 
many  more  have  been  lost. 

Thus,  during  the  first  century,  it  is  a  fact,  that  no  such 
book  as  we  now  receive,  called  the  New  Testament,  was 
used  or  adopted  in  the  Church  as  the  mode  for  each  indi- 
vidual or  each  Church  to  ascertain  what  was  the  doctrine 
of  Christ.  The  several  portions  of  which  it  is  composed  had 
indeed  been  written  and  were  used,  but  they  were  not  col- 
lected together,  and  very  probably  no  individual  had  a  copy 
of  the  whole.  But  those  were  not  the  only  books  of  the 
same  description  which  circulated,  for  there  were  very  many 


230  DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

others  purporting  to  be  Gospels  and  epistles ;  and  it  would 
indeed  be  very  difficult  for  any  individual  who  desired  to 
know  the  doctrine  of  the  Redeemer,  to  discover  it  from 
books,  in  such  a  state  of  things. 

Another  fact  is  also  obvious :  That  in  this  century  the 
Apostles  and  most  of  those  whom  they  had  associated  with 
them  in  their  commission  died.  During  their  lives,  they 
were  the  teachers  of  the  doctrine;  they  testified  what  Christ 
had  taught,  and  it  was  by  reference  to  their  tribunal  it 
was  ascertained.  But  a  question  here  naturally  presents 
itself  to  us.  Should  a  difference  of  testimony  be  found 
amongst  those  teachers,  it  is  very  evident  that  one  of  them 
must  have,  to  say  the  least,  made  a  mistake ;  how  was  an 
honest  inquirer  after  truth  to  know  what  God  has  revealed? 
It  is  plain,  we  say,  that  truth  and  error  must  exist  in  such 
a  case,  however  innocent  the  erring  party  might  be.  And 
unless  there  were  a  very  plain  and  simple  mode  of  detect- 
ing that  error,  He  who  gave  the  revelation  would  not  have 
provided  for  its  preservation.  And  as  this  difference  not 
only  might  exist,  but  did  actually  occur  at  a  very  early 
period  within  this  same  century,  the  evidence  of  truth  would 
have  been  lost  in  the  difference  of  testimony,  and  revela- 
tion would  have  been  made  useless  almost  as  soon  as  it 
had  been  given.  We  say  that  the  common  rule  of  evidence 
arising  from  testimony  would  have  been  sufficient,  when 
properly  applied,  to  have  detected  the  error.  That  rule  is : 
Examine  the  witnesses  fully  as  to  the  fact,  and  if  the  vast 
majority,  under  proper  circumstances,  will  agree  in  the  tes- 
timony, it  is  the  evidence  of  truth.  Our  history  exhibits 
to  us,  in  the  lifetime  of  the  Apostles,  the  facts  of  the  dif- 
ference, the  examination,  and  the  decision  by  this  rule;  and 
also  the  further  fact,  that  they  who  would  not  abide  by 
the  decision  were  no  longer  considered  as  holding  the  doc- 
trine which  had  been  revealed,  but  as  making  new  opinions, 
and  substituting  what  they  thought  ought  to  be,  instead  of 
preserving  what  had  always  been.  We  then  find  those  who 
continued  to  testify  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles  holding 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  231 

communion  with  them,  recognized  as  joined  in  their  com- 
mission, and  authorized  also  to  extend  and  to  perpetuate 
the  same.  Thus,  although  the  Apostles  and  their  associates 
<lied  within  this  century,  still  that  tribunal  of  which  they 
were  the  first  members  survived,  and  at  the  end  of  this 
period  was  far  more  numerous  and  much  more  widely 
extended  through  the  world;  and  it  was  to  this  tribunal 
recourse  was  had  to  ascertain  what  was  the  doctrine  of 
our  blessed  Redeemer.  Originally  this  tribunal  consisted  of 
Peter  and  his  associates,  the  other  Apostles ;  now  it  con- 
sisted of  the  successor  of  Peter,  and  the  successors  of  the 
other  Apostles,  and  of  their  associates  through  the  world. 

No  king  could  say  that  he  would  regulate  the  doctrines 
for  his  people ;  no  nation  had  authority  to  modify  those 
doctrines  for  themselves.  The  perfection  of  religion  consists 
in  preserving  the  doctrines  such  as  they  have  been  given 
by  God  in  revelation.  The  difference  of  temporal  govern- 
ment cannot  alter  what  He  has  said.  Thus,  there  was  formed 
but  one  Church  through  many  nations — one  tribunal  to  tes- 
tify in  every  place  the  same  doctrine  —  all  the  individuals 
who  taught  were  witnesses  for  or  against  each  other  —  the 
whole  body,  with  the  successor  of  Peter  at  its  head,  watch- 
ful to  see  that  each  taught  that  which  was  originally 
delivered. 

In  the  second  century  the  same  system  continues ;  simi- 
lar facts  present  themselves  to  our  view;  the  mode  of  ascer- 
taining what  Christ  had  taught  was,  by  the  declarations  of 
this  permanent  body,  thus  continued.  The  books  of  the 
New  Testament  were,  perhaps,  better  known  and  more  gen- 
erally read,  but  their  circulation  was  comparatively  limited, 
their  authority  not  sufficiently  developed,  and  they  were  by 
no  means  considered  as  the  only  source  from  which  indi- 
viduals, or  even  congregations,  could  draw  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  revelations  of  the  Saviour.  It  was  not  until  after 
the  lapse  of  three  centuries  that  the  members  of  that  living 
tribunal,  which  had  always  been  the  witness  of  doctrine, 
selected  the  books  that  form  the  New  Testament  from  the 


232  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

various  other  works  of  a  similar  description,  which  had 
been  very  freely  disseminated.  We  have  full  evidence  of 
the  plain  fact,  that  this  tribunal  had  been  the  authoritative 
witness  of  the  revealed  truths  from  the  beginning,  and  that 
it  was  only  after  a  long  lapse  of  time  that  body  separated 
the  writings  known  as  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Law 
from  several  spurious  works  of  little  or  no  value,  some  of 
them  even  false  and  pernicious.  And  our  belief  is,  that  the 
mode  of  ascertaining  the  doctrine  of  truth  originally  was, 
and  continued  to  be,  from  the  testimony  of  that  tribunal, 
rather  than  by  the  mere  testimony  of  those  books. 

What  would  be  the  authority  of  those  books,  without  the 
authority  of  that  tribunal?  Bring  any  written  document 
into  any  court  of  justice;  lay  it  on  the  table;  what  will 
it  prove?  Will  you  not  first  produce  evidence  to  show 
what  it  is?  You  must  prove  by  the  testimony  of  some 
competent  witness  the  nature  and  authenticity  of  a  written 
document  before  that  written  document  can  be  used.  With- 
out having  been  thus  established,  it  lies  useless  before  the 
court.  It  may  be  what  it  purports  to  be,  but  it  is  plain 
that  a  written  or  printed  book  may  not  be  what  it 
assumes  in  its  title ;  a  document  flung  upon  the  table  of  a 
court  lies  there  without  any  use,  until  it  is  made  useful  by 
testimony  besides  itself.  The  record  of  a  court  must  be 
proved  by  the  officer  of  that  court;  fictions  and  forgeries 
are  as  easily  printed  or  produced  as  are  the  genuine  state- 
ments of  truth;  and  it  does  not  derogate  from  the  value  of 
a  genuine  document,  to  say  that  it  needs  first  to  be  proved, 
for  no  document  can  prove  itself. 

Our  doctrine  then  is,  that  in  all  cases  of  difference  as  to 
faith,  between  the  commissioned  teachers  of  the  Church,  or 
in  any  such  differences  between  others,  the  mode  originally 
used  will  procure  for  us  evidence  of  truth.  The  question 
never  can  be  respecting  opinion ;  it  must  always  be  con- 
cerning fact;  that  fact  is  what  God  did  reveal.  The  orig- 
inal witnesses  spread  through  the  world  testified  this  fact 
to  their  associates  and  to  their  successors ;  this  testimony 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  233 

was  thus  continued.  In  the  second  or  third  century,  the 
bishop  in  Greece  could  testify  what  had  been  transmitted 
to  him ;  the  Parthian  bishop  gave  his  testimony ;  the 
Egyptian  added  his;  the  Italian  told  what  he  had  been 
taught;  their  agreement  could  not  have  been  the  effect 
of  accident.  The  prejudices,  the  national  habits,  and  the 
thousand  accidental  differences  of  each  made  them  sufficiently 
watchful  of  each  other :  their  joint  and  concurrent  testimony 
must  have  been  full  proof  of  the  sameness  of  the  testi- 
mony of  their  predecessors,  until  all  met  in  the  Apostles 
who  heard  it  from  Jesus  Christ.  We  say,  that  when  the 
great  majority  of  the  bishops  united  with  their  head,  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  who  succeeds  to  Peter,  thus  concur  in 
their  testimony,  it  is  evidence  of  truth;  we  will  infallibly- 
come  to  a  certain  knowledge  of  what  God  has  revealed^ 
This  is  our  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church  - 
and  thus  we  believe  that  we  will  ascertain  what  Christ 
taught,  by  the  testimony  of  the  majority  of  bishops  united 
to  their  head,  whether  assembled  or  dispersed  through  their 
sees  all  over  the  world.1 

Others  may  be  of  opinion  that  this  is  an  irrational — that 
this  is  an  incorrect,  that  this  is  an  insufficient  mode.  We 
do  not  view  it  in  that  light;  and  I  may  be  permitted  to» 
say  for  myself,  perhaps  it  might  be  deemed  prejudice  > 
perhaps  a  weakness  of  intellect,  or  a  slavery  of  mind';  to- 
me  it  appears  a  much  better  mode  of  attaining  its  great 
object  than  to  take  up  the  Scriptures  and  decide  solely  for 
myself;  better  than  to  depend  upon  the  authority  of  any 
individual,  however  learned,  or  pious,  or  inspired  with 
heavenly  knowledge,  he  might  be  deemed.  I  am  not  infal- 
lible ;  but  in  virtue  of  my  place  I  give  my  testimony ;  T 
may  err,  but  the  majority  of  my  brethren  will  correct  that 
error.  A  few  others  may  err ;  still  the  testimony  of  the 
majority  prevails — thus  individuals  may  separate  from  usr 

'Consult  here,  for  a  clear  definition  and  fnll  exolanation  of  the  infallibility 
of  the  Church  and  the  Pope,  Newman's  answer  to  Gladstone,  in  the  second  vol- 
ume of  "Difficulties  of  Anglicans." 


234  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

but  our  unity  and  our  testimony  remains.  "We  do  not 
profess  to  believe  our  Pope  infallible.1  We  believe,  that 
by  virtue  of  the  divine  appointment,  he  presides  amongst 
us,  but  we  are  fellow-witnesses  with  him. 

But  this  power  of  decision  is  by  its  own  nature  extremely 
limited.  We  are  witnesses  to  our  brethren,  not  despots  over 
men's  minds.  Our  testimony  must  be  confined  to  what  has 
been  revealed;  we  cannot  add,  we  cannot  diminish.  Such 
is  the  duty  of  a  witness,  such  is  ours.  All  the  Popes  and 
bishops,  all  the  councils  which  have  ever  existed,  or  which 
may  exist,  have  not  and  cannot  have  the  power  of  com- 
manding the  humblest  individual  to  believe  one  particle 
more  on  the  subject  of  revelation  than  what  they  testify  God 
to  have  taught.  When  they  exhibit  what  has  been  taught 
"by  heaven,  man  is  bound  to  believe.  Let  them  say: 
"  Besides  this  which  God  has  revealed,  we  are  of  opinion 
that  you  would  do  well  to  believe  this,  which  He  has  not 
taught,  but  which  we  think  a  very  good  doctrine."  He  is 
free  to  act  as  he  may  think  proper,  his  belief  would  not  be 
faith,  it  would  be  receiving  the  opinions  of  men,  not  the 
teaching  of  heaven ;  this  mode  of  teaching  is  never  used 
in  our  Church.  The  decisions  of  our  councils  are  the 
•exhibition  of  the  original  revelation,  not  the  expression  01 
adopted  opinions.  So,  too,  the  whole  body  of  our  Church 
cannot  omit  to  teach  any  revealed  truth ;  she  must  teach 
all ;  she  must  be  a  faithful  witness ;  neither  adding,  omit- 
ting, nor  changing. 

In  our  mode  of  examining,  although  we  believe  the 
Founder  of  our  Church  made  a  promise  of  His  divine 
guidance  to  protect  our  body  from  erring,  we  take  all  the 
natural  means  which  will  aid  in  the  discovery  of  the  original 
fact.  We  not  only  have  known  the  testimony  of  those  from 
whom  we  learned,  and  that  of  those  with  whom  we  associate ; 
l)ut  we  have  the  records  of  our  Churches,  we  have  the 

>  It  Is  now,  though  it  was  not  then,  a  dogma  of  the  Church  that  the  Pope, 
•when  speaking  ex  cathedra,  or  as  the  Pastor  £ternug,  is  infallible.  Vids  "Difficul- 
ties of  Anglicans,"  Vol.  II. 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  235 

documents  of  antiquity.  We  have  the  writings  of  our 
ancient,  and  venerable,  and  eminent  bishops  and  doctors, 
coming  from  every  age  and  from  every  nation.  We  have 
the  decisions  of  former  councils,  \ve  have  the  monuments 
which  have  been  erected,  the  usages  which  have  prevailed, 
the  customs  which  continue,  and  when  we  take  up  the 
sacred  volume  of  the  Scriptures,  we  collate  its  passages 
with  the  results  which  we  gather  from  those  sources.  The 
prelates  of  our  several  nations  make  this  examination  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe,  each  testifies  what  he  has  found 
in  conjunction  with  those  of  his  vicinity  who  could  aid  him 
in  his  research,  and  thus  we  obtain  testimony  of  the  whole 
world  respecting  facts  in  which  the  world  is  deeply  interested. 
Can  it  be  slavery  in  me  to  bow  to  the  decision  of  this 
tribunal?  Frequently,  questions  which  have  been  long  since 
decided  in  this  manner  are  revived.  Our  answer  in  those 
oases  is  very  short :  "  This  has  been  already  determined." 
We  are  told  this  is  limiting  the  operations  and  chaining 
down  the  freedom  of  the  human  mind.  Perhaps  it  is.  But 
if  the  proper  use  of  the  faculties  be  the  discovery  of  truth, 
and  that  truth  has  been  already  discovered,  what  more  is 
necessary?  When  investigations  have  been  made,  and  results 
arrived  at,  why  investigate  still  ?  You  go  into  court  to 
defend  your  property,  you  have  your  titles  fully  investigated, 
judgment  is  given  in  your  favor,  it  is  put  upon  record;  a 
new  litigant  calls  upon  you  to  go  over  the  same  ground ; 
will  not  the  record  of  the  judgment  against  his  father  protect 
you  ?  Or  must  you,  because  he  choose  to  trouble  you,  burn 
that  record,  and  join  issue  again?  We  quote  the  decisions 
of  former  times  as  proofs  that  investigation  has  been  already 
made,  and  that  a  decision  has  long  since  been  had.  And 
what  has  once  been  found  to  have  been  revealed  by  God, 
cannot  by  any  lapse  of  time  cease  to  be  revelation.  If  the 
fact  shall  have  been  once  fully  proved,  that  proof  must  be 
good  always ;  if  a  record  thereof  be  made,  that  record  is 
always  evidence. 

A   political   difficulty  has    been    sometimes    raised   here.     If 


236  DISCOURSE  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

this  infallible  tribunal,  which  you  profess  yourselves  bound 
to  obey,  should  command  you  to  overturn  our  government, 
and  tell  you  that  it  is  the  will  of  God  to  have  it  new 
modelled,  will  you  be  bound  to  obey  it?  And  how  then 
can  we  consider  those  men  to  be  good  citizens  who  profess 
to  owe  obedience  to  a  foreign  authority — to  an  authority 
not  recognized  in  our  Constitution — to  an  authority  which 
has  excommunicated  and  deposed  sovereigns,  and  which  has 
absolved  subjects  and  citizens  from  their  bond  of  allegiance? 
Our  answer  to  this  is  extremely  simple  and  very  plain ; 
it  is,  that  we  would  not  be  bound  to  obey  it — that  we 
recognize  no  such  authority.  I  would  not  allow  to  the 
Pope,  or  to  any  bishop  of  our  Church,  outside  this  Union, 
the  smallest  interference  with  the  humblest  vote  at  our  most 
insignificant  ballot-box.  He  has  no  right  to  such  interfer- 
ence. You  must,  from  the  view  which  I  have  taken,  see 
the  plain  distinction  between  spiritual  authority  and  a 
right  to  interfere  in  the  regulation  of  human  government 
or  civil  concerns.  You  have  in  your  Constitution  wisely 
kept  them  distinct  and  separate.  It  will  be  wisdom,  and 
prudence,  and  safety  to  continue  the  separation.  Your  Con- 
stitution says  that  Congress  shall  have  no  power  to  restrict 
the  free  exercise  of  religion.  Suppose  your  dignified  body 
to-morrow  attempted  to  restrict  me  in  the  exercise  of  that 
right;  though  the  law,  as  it  would  be  called,  should  pass 
your  two  houses  and  obtain  the  signature  of  the  President, 
I  would  not  obey  it,  because  it  would  be  no  law,  it  would 
be  an  usurpation ;  for  you  cannot  make  a  law  in  violation 
of  your  Constitution — you  have  no  power  in  such  a  case. 
So,  if  that  tribunal  which  is  established  by  the  Creator  to 
testify  to  me  what  He  has  revealed,  and  to  make  the  neces- 
sary regulations  of  discipline  for  the  government  of  the 
Church,  shall  presume  to  go  beyond  that  boundary  which 
circumscribes  its  power,  its  acts  are  invalid ;  my  rights  are 
not  to  be  destroyed  by  its  usurpation ;  and  there  is  no 
principle  of  my  creed  which  prevents  my  using  my  natural 
right  of  proper  resistance  to  any  tyrannical  usurpation.  You 


DISCOURSE   BEFORE    CONGRESS.  237 

have  no  power  to  interfere  with  my  religious  rights ;  the 
tribunal  of  the  Church  has  no  power  to  interfere  with  my 
civil  rights.  It  is  a  duty  which  every  good  man  ought  to 
discharge  for  his  own  and  for  the  public  benefit,  to  resist 
any  encroachment  upon  either.  We  do  not  believe  that 
God  gave  to  the  Church  any  power  to  interfere  with  our 
civil  rights  or  our  civil  concerns.  Christ  our  Lord  refused 
to  interfere  in  the  division  of  the  inheritance  between  two 
brothers,  one  of  whom  requested  that  interference.  The 
civil  tribunals  of  Judea  were  vested  with  sufficient  authority 
for  that  purpose,  and  He  did  not  transfer  it  to  His  Apostles. 
It  must  hence  be  apparent,  that  any  idea  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  these  republics  being  in  any  way  under  the 
influence  of  any  foreign  ecclesiastical  power,  or  indeed  of 
auy  Church  authority,  in  the  exercise  of  their  civil  rights, 
is  a  serious  mistake.  There  is  no  class  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  more  free  to  think  and  to  act  for  themselves  on  the 
subject  of  our  rights  than  we  are;  and  I  believe  there  is 
not  any  portion  of  the  American  family  more  jealous  of 
foreign  influence,  or  more  ready  to  resist  it.  We  have 
brethren  of  our  Church  in  every  part  of  the  globe,  under 
every  form  of  government ;  this  is  a  subject  upon  which 
each  of  us  is  free  to  act  as  he  thinks  proper.  We  know 
of  no  tribunal  in  our  Church  which  can  interfere  in  our 
proceedings  as  citizens.  Our  ecclesiastical  authority  existed 
before  our  Constitution,  is  not  affected  by  it;  there  is  not 
in  the  world  a  constitution  which  it  does  not  precede,  with 
which  it  could  not  co-exist ;  it  has  seen  nations  perish, 
dynasties  decay,  empires  prostrate ;  it  has  co-existed  with 
all,  it  has  survived  them  all,  it  is  not  dependent  upon 
any  one  of  them ;  they  may  still  change,  and  it  will  still 
continue. 

It  is  again  urged,  that  at  least  our  Church  is  aristocratic, 
if  not  despotic,  in  its  principles,  and  is  not  calculated  for 
a  republic — that  its  spirit  is  opposed  to  that  of  repub- 
licanism. This  objection  cannot  be  seriously  urged  by  any 
person  who  has  studied  history,  nor  by  any  person  who 


238  DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

is  acquainted  with  our  tenets.  Look  over  the  history  of 
the  world  since  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  and  where 
have  there  been  republics  ?  Have  the  objectors  read  the 
history  of  Italy  ?  A  soil  fertile  in  republics,  and  most 
devoted  to  our  religion !  What  was  the  religion  of  Wil- 
liam Tell?  He  was  a  Roman  Catholic.  Look  not  only  to 
the  Swiss  republics,  but  take  San  Marino — this  little  State, 
during  centuries,  the  most  splendid  specimen  of  the  purest 
democracy,  and  this  democracy  protected  by  our  Popes- 
during  these  centuries.  Men  who  make  the  assertions  to 
which  I  have  alluded  cannot  have  read  history.  Amongst 
ourselves,  what  is  the  religion  of  the  venerable  Charles 
Carroll  of  Carrollton?  Men  who  make  these  assertions 
cannot  have  read  our  Declaration  of  Independence.  What 
was  the  religion  of  the  good,  the  estimable,  the  beloved 
Doctor  Carroll,  our  first  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
the  founder  of  our  hierarchy,  the  friend  of  Washington, 
the  associate  of  Franklin?  Have  those  men  been  degraded 
in  our  Church  because  they  aided  in  your  struggle  for  the 
assertion  of  your  rights,  for  the  establishment  of  our  glori- 
ous and  our  happy  republic  ?  No — they  are  the  jewels 
which  we  prize,  the  ornaments  of  our  Church,  the  patriots 
of  our  country.  They  and  others,  whom  we  count  as  our 
members,  and  esteem  for  their  virtues,  have  been  the  inti- 
mate and  faithful  associates  of  many  of  our  best  patriots 
who  have  passed  from  our  transitory  scene,  and  of  some 
who  yet  view  in  consolation  our  prosperity.  What  is  the 
religion  of  Simon  Bolivar?  What  the  religion  of  the  whole 
population  of  our  republican  sisters  upon  the  southern  con- 
tinent? We  are  always  assailed  by  speculation.  We  always 
answer  by  facts.  Have  we  been  found  traitors  in  your 
councils,  unfaithful  to  your  trust,  cowards  in  your  fields, 
or  in  correspondence  with  your  enemies  ?  Yet  we  have 
been  consulted  for  our  prudence,  confided  in  for  our 
fidelity,  enriched  your  soil  with  our  blood,  filled  your  decks 
with  our  energy;  and  though  some  of  us  might  have  wept 
at  leaving  the  land  of  our  ancestors  because  of  the  injus- 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 

tice  of  its  rulers,  we  told  our  brothers  who  assailed  you 
in  the  day  of  battle  that  we  knew  them  not,  and  we 
adhered  to  those  who  gave  to  us  a  place  of  refuge  and 
impartial  protection.  Shall  we  then  be  told  that  our  religion 
is  not  the  religion  calculated  for  republics,  though  it  will 
be  found  that  the  vast  majority  of  republican  States  and 
of  republican  patriots  have  been,  and  even  now  are,  Roman 
Catholic?  It  is  true,  ours  is  also  the  religion  of  a  large 
portion  of  empires,  and  of  kingdoms,  and  of  principalities. 
The  fact  is  so  far  an  obvious  reason,  because  it  is  the 
religion  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  civilized  world.  Our 
tenets  do  not  prescribe  any  form  of  government  which  the 
people  may  properly  and  regularly  establish.  No  revelation 
upon  which  my  eye  has  fallen,  or  which  ever  reached  my 
ear,  has  taught  me  that  the  Almighty  God  commanded  us 
to  be  governed  by  kings,  or  by  emperors,  or  by  princes, 
or  to  associate  in  republics.  Upon  this  God  has  left  us 
free  to  make  our  own  selection.  The  decision  upon  the 
question  of  expediency  as  to  the  form  of  government  for 
temporal  or  civil  concerns,  is  one  to  be  settled  by  society, 
and  not  by  the  Church.  We  therefore  bind  no  nation  or 
people  to  any  special  form ;  the  form  which  they  may  adopt 
lies  not  with  us,  but  with  themselves.  What  suits  the 
genius  and  circumstances  of  one  people  might  be  totally 
unfit-  for  another ;  hence,  no  special  form  of  human  gov- 
ernment for  civil  concerns  has  been  generally  established 
by  divine  authority.  But  the  God  of  order  who  commands 
men  to  dwell  together  in  peace,  has  armed  the  government 
which  has  been  properly  established  by  the  principles  of 
society,  with  power  for  the  execution  of  the  functions  which 
are  given  by  society  to  its  administration.  Whilst  it  con- 
tinues, within  its  due  bounds,  to  discharge  properly  its 
constitutional  obligations,  it  is  the  duty  of  each  good  mem- 
ber of  society  to  concur  in  its  support.  He  who  would 
resist  its  proper  authority,  would  in  this  case  resist  the 
ordinance  of  the  God  of  peace  and  of  order,  and,  as  the 
Apostle  says,  would  purchase  damnation  for  himself.  This 


240  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

principle  applies  alike  to  all  forms  of  government  properly 
established  and  properly  administered — to  republics  and  to 
kingdoms  alike.  It  is  then  a  mistake  to  imagine  that  our 
Church  has  more  congeniality  to  one  species  of  civil  gov- 
ernment .than  to  another ;  it  has  been  fitted  by  its  Author, 
who  saw  the  fluctuating  state  of  civil  rule,  to  exist  independ- 
ently of  any,  and  to  be  suited  to  all.  Its  own  peculiar 
forms  for  its  internal  regulation  may  and  do  continue  to 
be  adhered  to  under  every  form  of  temporal  rule. 

But  is  it  not  a  tenet  of  our  Church,  that  we  must  per- 
secute all  those  who  differ  from  us?  Has  not  our  religion 
been  propagated  by  the  firebrand  and  by  the  sword?  Is 
not  the  Inquisition  one  of  its  component  parts  ?  Are  not 
our  boasted  South  American  republics  persecutors  still?  And 
in  the  code  of  our  infallible  Church  have  we  not  canons  of 
persecution  which  we  are  conscientiously  bound  to  obey  and 
to  enforce?  Did  not  the  great  Lateran  Council,  in  1215, 
command  all  princes  to  exterminate  all  heretics  ?  If,  then, 
we  are  not  persecutors  in  fact,  it  is  because  we  want  the 
power,  for  it  is  plain  that  we  do  not  want  the  disposition. 

I  would  humbly  submit,  that  not  one  of  these  questions 
could  be  truly  answered  in  the  affirmative.  The  spirit  of 
religion  is  that  of  peace  and  of  mercy,  not  that  of  persecu- 
tion; yet  men  of  every  creed  have  persecuted  their  brethren 
under  the  pretext  of  religion.  The  great  Founder  of.  our 
Church,  at  a  very  early  period,  checked  this  spirit  in  His 
Apostles.  When  some  cities  would  not  receive  His  doc- 
trine, they  asked  why  He  did  not  call  down  fire  from 
heaven  to  destroy  them ;  but  His  calm  and  dignified  rebuke 
was,  that  they  knew  not  by  what  spirit  they  were  led;  it 
was  the  spirit  of  human  passion  assuming  the  garb  of 
heavenly  zeal.  I  know  of  no  power  given  by  God  to  any 
man,  or  to  any  body  of  men,  in  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion, to  inflict  any  penalty  of  a  temporal  description  upon 
their  fellow-men  for  mere  religious  error.  If  such  error 
shall  cause  the  violation  of  peace,  or  shall  interfere  with 
the  well-being  of  society,  temporal  governments,  being  estab- 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  241 

lished  to  prevent  such  disorders,  have  their  own  inherent 
right,  but  not  a  religious  commission,  to  interfere  merely 
for  that  prevention.  Each  individual  is  responsible  to  God 
for  his  conduct  in  this  regard ;  to  Him,  and  to  Him  only, 
we  stand  or  fall.  He  commissioned  the  Church  to  teach 
His  doctrine — but  He  did  not  commission  her  to  persecute 
those  who  would  not  receive  it.  He  who  beholds  the  evidence 
of  truth  and  will  not  follow  it,  is  inexcusable ;  he  who 
will  not  use  his  best  exertions  to  obtain  that  evidence,  is 
inexcusable ;  he  who  having  used  his  best  exertions  for 
that  purpose,  and  having  with  the  best  intentions  made  a 
mistake  in  coming  to  his  conclusion,  is  not  a  criminal 
because  of  that  mistake.  God  alone,  the  searcher  of  our 
hearts,  can  clearly  see  the  full  accountability  of  each  indi- 
vidual upon  this  head  —  because  each  person  must  be 
accountable  according  to  his  opportunities.  I  feel  that  many 
and  serious  mistakes  are  made  by  my  friends  in  this 
country.  I  know  who  are  mistaken,  but  far  be  it  from 
me  to  say  that  all  who  err  are  criminal.  I  have  fre- 
quently asked  myself  whether,  if  I  had  had  only  the  same 
opportunities  of  knowing  the  doctrine  of  my  Church  and 
its  evidences  that  many  of  them  have  had,  I  would  be 
what  I  now  am.  Indeed,  it  would  be  very  extraordinary 
if  I  was.  They  labor  under  those  mistakes,  not  through 
their  owrn  fault  in  several  instances ;  and  if  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  were,  in  her  doctrines  and  her  practices, 
what  they  have  been  taught  she  is,  I  would  not  be  a 
Roman  Catholic.  They  imagine  her  to  be  what  she  is  not ; 
and  when  they  oppose  what  they  believe  her  to  be,  it  is 
not  to  her  their  opposition  is  really  given.  To  God,  and 
to  Him  alone,  belongs  it  ultimately  to  discriminate  between 
those  who  are  criminal  and  those  who  are  innocent  in  their 
error;  and  I  look  in  vain  through  every  record,  in  vain 
I  listen  to  every  testimony  of  my  doctrine  to  discover  any 
command  to  persecute,  any  power  to  inflict  fine,  or  dis- 
qualification, or  bodily  chastisement  upon  those  who  are  in 
mere  religious  error.  It  is  no  doctrine  of  the  Roman 

16 


242  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

Catholic  Church ;  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  the  doctrine 
of  any  Church  calling  itself  Christian ;  but,  unfortunately, 
I  know  it  has  been  practiced  by  some  Roman  Catholics, 
and  it  has  been  practiced  in  every  Church  which  accused 
her  of  having  had  recourse  thereto.  I  would  then  say  it 
was  taught  by  no  Church ;  it  has  been  practiced  in  all. 
One  great  temptation  to  its  exercise  is  the  union  of  any 
Church  with  the  State ;  and  religion  has  more  frequently 
been  but  a  pretext  with  statesmen  for  a  political  purpose, 
than  the  cause  of  persecution  for  zeal  on  its  own  behalf. 

Christ  gave  to  His  Apostles  no  commission  to  use  the 
sword  or  the  brand,  and  they  went  forth  in  the  simplicity 
of  their  testimony,  and  the  evidence  of  their  miracles,  and 
the  power  of  their  evidence,  to  convert  the  world.  They 
gave  freely  their  own  blood  to  be  shed  for  the  sake  of 
religion,  but  they  shed  not  the  blood  of  their  opponents. 
Their  associates  and  their  successors  followed  their  example, 
and  were  successful  by  that  imitation.  And  the  historian. 
Avho  represents  the  chastisements  of  infidel  barbarians,  by 
Christian  princes,  for  the  protection  of  their  own  people, 
and  the  security  of  their  own  property,  misleads  the  reader 
whom  he  would  fain  persuade,  that  it  was  done  for  the 
purposes  of  religion  at  the  instigation  of  those  who  laid 
down  their  own  lives  in  the  conversion  of  those  barbarians. 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  we  cannot  call  error  truth,  nor  style 
truth  error ;  it  is  true  that  we  say  there  must  continue  to 
be  an  essential  distinction  between  them ;  it  is  true  that 
we  cannot  belie  our  consciences,  nor  bear  false  witness  to 
our  neighbors,  by  telling  them  that  we  believe  they  adhere 
to  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  when  they  contradict  what  we 
receive  as  those  doctrines ;  we  cannot  believe  two  contra- 
dictory propositions  to  be  at  the  same  time  true.  But  such 
a  declaration  on  our  part  does  not  involve  as  its  consequence 
that  we  believe  they  ought  to  be  persecuted.  The  Inquisi- 
tion is  a  civil  tribunal  of  some  States,  not  a  portion  of  our 
religion. 

We  now  come  to  examine  what  are  called  the  persecuting 


1'lzCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  243 

laws  of  our  Church.  In  the  year  1215,  at  the  Council  of 
Lateran,  certain  heresies  were  condemned  by  the  first  canon; 
and  amongst  other  things  this  canon  recites  as  Catholic 
faith,  in  opposition  to  the  errors  of  those  whom  it  con- 
demned, that  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Creator  of  all 
things,  of  spirits  as  well  as  bodies ;  the  Author  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  equally  as  of 
the  New  Testament  and  of  the  Christian  dispensation ;  that 
He  created  not  only  the  good  angels,  but  also  the  devil 
and  the  bad  angels,  originally  coming  good  from  His  hand, 
and  becoming  wicked  by  their  own  malice,  etc.  In  its 
third  canon  it  excommunicates  those  heretics,  and  declares 
them  to  be  separated  from  the  body  of  the  Church.  Then 
follows  a  direction,  that  the  heretics  so  condemned  are  to 
be  given  up  to  the  secular  powers,  or  to  their  bailifls,  to 
be  duly  punished.  This  direction  continues  to  require  of 
all  bishops  and  others  having  authority,  to  make  due  search 
within  their  several  districts  for  those  heretics,  and  if  they 
will  not  be  induced  to  retract  their  errors,  desires  that 
they  should  be  delivered  over  to  be  punished.  There  is 
an  injunction  then  to  all  temporal  lords  to  cleanse  their 
dominions  by  exterminating  those  heretics;  and  if  they  will 
not,  within  a  year  from  having  been  so  admonished  by 
the  Church,  cleanse  their  lands  of  this  heretical  filth,  they 
shall  be  deprived  if  they  have  superior  lords,  and  if  they 
be  superior  lords  and  be  negligent,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  metropolitan  and  his  provincial  bishops  to  excom- 
municate them,  and  if  any  one  of  those  lords  paramount 
so  excommunicated  for  this  negligence  shall  continue  during 
twelve  months  under  the  excommunication,  the  metropolitan 
shall  certify  the  same  to  the  Pope,  who  finding  admonition 
useless,  shall  depose  this  prince,  and  absolve  his  subjects 
from  their  oaths  of  fealty,  and  deliver  the  territory  over  to 
Catholics  who,  having  exterminated  the  heretics,  shall  remain 
in  peaceable  possession. 

This    is   the  most  formidable   evidence  adduced  against  the 
position   which    I    have    laid    down,   that  it   is  not  a  doctrine 


244  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

of  our  Church,  that  we  are  bound  to  persecute  those  who 
differ  from  us  in  belief.  I  trust  that  I  shall  not  occupy 
very  much  of  your  time  in  showing  that  this  enactment 
does  not  in  any  way  weaken  that  assertion.  I  shall  do 
so,  by  satisfying  you  that  this  is  a  special  law  for  a  par- 
ticular case ;  and  also  by  convincing  you  that  it  is  not  a 
canon  of  the  Church  respecting  any  of  those  points  in 
which  we  admit  her  infallibility;  nor  indeed  a  canon  of 
the  Church. 

The  doctrines  condemned  in  this  first  canon  originated  in 
Syria,  touched  v  lightly  at  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago, 
settled  down  in  Bulgaria,  and  spread  into  the  south  of 
Europe,  but  were  principally  received  in  the  vicinity  of 
Albi,  in  France.  The  persons  condemned  held  the  Mani- 
chsean  principle  of  there  being  two  creators  of  the  universe ; 
one  a  good  being,  the  author  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
creator  of  good  angels,  and  generally  of  spiritual  essences ; 
the  other  an  evil  being,  the  creator  of  bodies,  the  author 
of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  and  generally  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. They  stated  that  marriage  was  unlawful,  and  co- 
operation with  the  principle  of  evil  was  criminal.  The 
consequences  to  society  were  of  the  very  worst  description, 
immoral,  dismal,  and  desolating.  The  Church  examined  the 
doctrine,  condemned  it  as  heretical,  and  cut  off  those  who 
held  or  abetted  it  from  her  communion.  Here,  according 
to  the  principles  which  I  have  maintained  before  you,  her 
power  ended.  Beyond  this  we  claim  no  authority;  the 
Church,  by  divine  right,  we  say,  infallibly  testifies  what 
doctrines  Christ  has  revealed,  and  by  the  same  right,  in  the 
same  manner,  decides  that  what  contradicts  this  revelation 
is  erroneous ;  but  she  has  no  divine  authority  to  make  a 
law  which  shall  strip  of  their  property,  or  consign  to  the 
executioner,  those  whom  she  convicts  of  error.  The  doctrine 
of  our  obligation  to  submit  docs  not  extend  to  force  us  to 
submit  to  a  usurpation ;  and  if  the  Church  made  a  law  upon 
a  subject  beyond  her  commission  for  legislation,  it  would  be 
invalid ;  there  would  be  no  proper  claim  for  our  obedience ; 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  245 

usurpation  does  not  create  a  right.  The  council  could  by 
right  make  the  doctrinal  decision ;  but  it  had  no  right  to 
make  the  temporal  enactment;  and  where  there  exists  no 
right  to  legislate  on  one  side,  there  is  no  obligation  of 
obedience  on  the  other.  If  this  was  then  a  canon  of  the 
Church,  it  was  not  one  in  making  which  she  was  acting 
within  her  constitutional  jurisdiction,  it  was  a  usurpation  of 
temporal  government,  and  the  doctrine  of  infallibility  does 
not  bear  upon  it 

Every  document  respecting  this  council,  the  entire  of  the 
evidence  respecting  it,  as  well  as  the  very  mode  of  -framing 
the  enactments,  prove  that  it  was  a  special  law  regarding 
a  particular  case.  The  only  persons  whose  errors  were  con- 
demned at  that  council  were  those  whom  I  have  described. 
The  general  principle  of  legal  exposition  restraining  the 
application  of  penal  enactments  must  here  have  full  weight, 
and  will  restrain  the  application  of  the  penalty  to  the  only 
criminals  brought  within  its  view.  But  the  evidence  is  still 
more  confirmed  by  the  particular  words  of  definite  meaning, 
this  and  filth,  which  were  specially  descriptive  of  only  those 
persons ;  the  first  by  its  very  nature,  the  second  by  the 
nature  of  their  crime ;  and  the  continued  exposition  of  the 
enactment  restrained  its  application  to  the  special  case, 
though  frequently  attempts  have  been  made  by  individuals 
to  extend  its  application,  not  in  virtue  of  the  statute,  but 
in  virtue  of  analogy.  It  would  then  be  improperly  forcing 
its  construction  to  say  that  its  operation  was  to  be  general, 
as  it  evidently  was  made  only  for  a  particular  case. 

In  viewing  the  preamble  to  this  council,  as  well  as  from 
our  knowledge  of  history,  we  discover  that  this  was  not 
merely  a  council  of  the  Church,  but  it  was  also  a  congress 
of  the  civilized  world.  The  state  of  the  times  rendered 
such  assemblages  not  only  usual  but  necessary;  and  each 
legislative  body  did  its  own  business  by  its  own  authority ; 
and  very  generally  the  subjects  which  were  decided  upon  by 
one  body  in  one  point  of  view,  came  under  the  consideration 
of  the  other  assembly  in  a  different  point  of  view,  and  their 


246  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

• 

separate  decisions  were  engrossed  upon  a  joint  record.  Some- 
times they  were  preserved  distinct  and  separate;  but  copyists, 
for  their  own  convenience,  brought  together  all  the  articles 
regarding  the  same  subject,  from  what  source  soever  they 
were  obtained.  Such  was  precisely  the  case  in  the  instance 
before  us.  There  were  present  on  this  occasion,  by  them- 
selves or  by  their  legates,  the  King  of  Sicily,  Emperor-elect 
of  the  Romans,  the  Emperor  of  the  East,  the  King  of  France, 
the  King  of  England,  the  King  of  Arragon,  the  King  of 
Jerusalem,  the  King  of  Cyprus,  many  other  kings,  lords 
paramount,  sovereign  States,  and  princes.  Several  of  the 
bishops  were  princes  or  barons.  In  the  ecclesiastical  council, 
the  third  canon  terminated  exactly  in  one  sentence,  which 
was  that  of  the  excommunication  or  separation  from  the 
Church  of  those  whom  the  first  canon  had  condemned, 
whatever  name  or  names  they  might  assume ;  because  they 
had  in  several  places  several  appellations,  and  were  continu- 
ally dividing  off  and  changing  names  as  they  separated. 
The  duty  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  council  came  to  this, 
and  the  ancient  records  give  no  more  as  the  portion  of  its 
enactments.  But  the  congress  of  the  temporal  powers  then 
made  the  subsequent  part  as  their  enactment;  and  thus  this 
penal  and  civil  regulation  was  not  an  act  of  the  council, 
but  an  act  of  the  congress.  It  is  not  a  canon  concerning 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  nor  indeed  is  it  by  any  means 
a  canon,  though  the  copyists  have  added  it  to  the  canon  as 
regarding  the  very  same  subject;  and  as  confessedly  the 
excommunication  in  the  third  canon  regarded  only  the 
special  case  of  those  particular  heretics,  the  addition  of  the 
penal  enactment  to  this  particular  canon  is  confirmatory 
evidence  that  those  who  added  it  knew  that  the  penalty  in 
the  one  case  was  only  co-extensive  with  the  excommunication 
in  the  other. 

Having  thus  seen  that  this  canon  of  the  Council  of 
Lateran  was  not  a  doctrinal  decision  of  our  Church  estab- 
lishing the  doctrine  of  persecution  and  commanding  to  per- 
secute, but  that  it  was  a  civil  enactment  by  the  temporal 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  247 

power  against  persons  whom  they  looked  upon  as  criminals, 
it  is  more  the  province  of  the  politician  or  of  the  jurist  than 
of  the  divine  to  decide  upon  its  propriety.  I  may,  how- 
ever, be  permitted  to  say  that  in  my  opinion  the  existence 
of  civilized  society  required  its  enactment,  though  no  good 
man  can  approve  of  several  abuses  which  were  committed 
under  the  pretext  of  its  execution,  nor  can  any  rational 
man  pretend  that  because  of  the  existence  of  a  special  law 
for  a  particular  purpose  every  case  which  may  be  thought 
analagous  to  that  for  which  provision  was  made  is  to  be 
illegally  subjected  to  those  provisions. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  the  place  where  we  may  easily 
find  the  origin  and  the  extent  of  the  papal  power  of 
deposing  sovereigns  and  of  absolving  subjects  from  their 
oaths  of  allegiance.  To  judge  properly  of  facts,  we  must 
.know  their  special  circumstances,  not  their  mere  outline. 
The  circumstances  of  Christendom  were  then  widely  different 
from  those  in  which  we  now  are  placed.  Europe  was  then 
under  the  feudal  system.  I  have  seldom  found  a  writer, 
not  a  Catholic,  who,  in  treating  of  that  age  and  that 
system,  has  been  accurate,  and  who  has  not  done  us  very 
serious  injustice.  But  a  friend  of  mine,  who  is  a  respect- 
able member  of  your  honorable  body,  has  led  me  to  read 
Hallam's  account  of  it ;  and  I  must  say  that  I  have  sel- 
dom met  with  so  much  candor  and,  what  I  call,  so  much 
truth.  From  reading  his  statement  of  that  system  it  will  be 
plainly  seen  that  there  existed  amongst  the  Christian  poten- 
tates a  sort  of  federation,  in  which  they  bound  themselves 
by  certain  regulations,  and  to  the  observance  of  those  they 
were  held  not  merely  by  their  oaths,  but  by  various  pen- 
alties. Sometimes  they  consented  that  the  penalty  should 
be  the  loss  of  their  station.  It  was  of  course  necessary 
to  ascertain  that  the  fact  existed  before  its  consequences 
should  be  declared  to  follow ;  it  was  also  necessary  to 
€stablish  some  tribunal  to  examine  and  to  decide  as  to  the 
existence  of  the  fact  itself,  and  to  proclaim  that  existence. 
Amongst  independent  sovereigns  there  was  no  superior,  and 


248  DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS. 

it  was  natural  to  fear  that  mutual  jealousy  would  create 
great  difficulty  in  selecting  a  chief;  and  that  what  orig- 
inated in  concession  might  afterwards  be  claimed  as  a  right. 
They  were,  however,  all  members  of  one  Church,  of  which 
the  Pope  was  the  head,  and  in  this  respect,  their  common 
father;  and  by  universal  consent  it  was  regulated  that  he 
should  examine,  ascertain  the  fact,  proclaim  it,  and  declare 
its  consequences.  Thus  he  did  in  reality  possess  the  power 
of  deposing  monarchs,  and  of  absolving  their  subjects  from 
oaths  of  fealty,  but  only  those  monarchs  who  were  mem- 
bers of  that  federation,  and  in  the  cases  legally  provided 
for,  and  by  their  concession,  not  by  divine  right,  and 
during  the  term  of  that  federation  and  the  existence  of  his 
commission.  He  governed  the  Church  by  divine  right,  he 
deposed  kings  and  absolved  subjects  from  their  allegiance 
by  human  concession.  I  preach  the  doctrines  of  my  Church 
by  divine  right,  but  I  preach  from  this  spot  not  by  that 
right  but  by  the  permission  of  others. 

It  is  not  then  a  doctrine  of  our  Church  that  the  Pope 
has  been  divinely  commissioned  either  to  depose  kings  or 
to  interfere  with  republics,  or  to  absolve  the  subjects  of 
the  former  from  their  allegiance,  or  interfere  with  the  civil 
concerns  of  the  latter.  When  the  persecuted  English  Cath- 
olics, under  Elizabeth,  found  the  Pope  making  an  unfounded 
claim  to  this  right,  and  upon  the  shadow  of  that  un- 
founded right  making  inroads  upon  their  national  independ- 
ence, by  declaring  who  should  or  who  should  not  be  their 
temporal  ruler,  they  well  showed  how  little  they  regarded 
his  absolving  them  from  their  allegiance,  for  they  volun- 
teered their  services  to  protect  their  liberties,  which  their 
Catholic  ancestors  had  labored  to  establish.  And  she  well 
found  that  a  Catholic  might  safely  be  entrusted  with  the 
admiralty  of  her  fleet,  and  that  her  person  was  secure 
amongst  her  disgraced  Catholic  nobility  and  gentry  and  their 
persecuted  adherents ;  although  the  Court  of  Rome  had 
issued  its  bull  of  absolution,  and  some  divines  were  found 
who  endeavored  to  prove  that  what  originated  in  voluntary 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS.  249 

concession  of  States  and  monarchs  was  derived  from  divine 
institution.  If  then  Elizabeth,  of  whose  character  I  would 
not  wish  in  this  place  to  express  my  opinion,  was  safe 
amidst  those  whom  she  persecuted  for  their  faith,  even 
when  the  head  of  their  Church  absolved  them  from  alle- 
giance, and  if  at  such  a  moment  they  flocked  round  her 
standard  to  repel  Catholic  invaders  who  came  with  conse- 
crated banners,  and  that  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that 
in  so  doing  they  violated  no  principle  of  doctrine  or  of 
discipline  of  their  Church,  as  we  all  avow ;  surely  America 
need  not  fear  for  the  fidelity  of  her  Catholic  citizens,  whom 
she  cherishes  and  whom  she  receives  to  her  bosom  with 
affection  and  shelters  from  the  persecution  of  others.  Neither 
will  any  person  attempt  to  establish  an  analogy  between 
our  federation  and  that  of  feudalism,  to  argue  that  the 
Pope  can  do  amongst  us  what  he  did  amongst  European, 
potentates  under  circumstances  widely  different. 

It  has  been  frequently  objected  to  us,  that  our  Church 
has  been  more  extensively  persecuting  than  any  other.  This- 
is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  a  comparison  of  atrocities ; 
but  I  will  assert,  that  when  weighed  against  each  other 
our  scale  will  be  found  light  indeed.  Did  any  person  think 
proper  to  conjure  up  the  victims  from  the  grave,  I  would 
engage  to  produce  evidence  of  the  inflictions  upon  us  in 
abundance,  until  the  hairs  of  our  hearers  should  stand  on 
end,  and  humanity  interpose  to  prevent  the  recital.  But 
the  crimes  of  individuals  or  of  assemblies  are  not  the  doc- 
trines of  a  Church. 

I  had  other  subjects  which  I  desired  to  treat  of  in  your 
presence,  but  I  feel  I  have  trespassed  too  long  upon  your 
patience.  Let  us  go  back  to  our  view  of  religion.  We 
may  now  say  that  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  can  be 
reduced  to  the  two  great  commandments  as  our  blessed 
Saviour  gave  them :  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  thy  whole  heart,  and  thy  whole  soul,  and  thy  whole 
mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength ;  this  is  the  first  and 
the  greatest.  Love  is  affectionate  attachment  founded  upon 


250  DISCOURSE  BEFORE   CONGRESS. 

esteem.  We  seek  to  know  the  will  of  those  whom  we  love 
that  we  may  bring  ours  to  be  in  conformity  therewith.  The 
will  of  God  is,  that  we  should  seek  to  know  what  He 
teaches,  because,  indeed,  He  would  not  have  taught  with- 
out desiring  that  we  should  learn.  Our  Saviour  Himself 
tells  His  disciples,  if  they  love  Him  they  will  keep  His 
Word.  The  proof,  then,  of  our  love  is  not  to  be  exhibited 
in  our  mere  declaration,  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  manifes- 
tation of  our  assiduity  to  know  what  our  Creator  has 
taught,  that  it  may  be  the  rule  of  our  practice  —  that  we 
may  believe  His  declarations,  obey  His  injunctions,  and 
adhere  to  His  institutions.  As  His  knowledge  surpasses 
ours,  so  His  declarations  may  regard  facts  beyond  our 
comprehension,  and  our  faith  be  thus  built  upon  the  evi- 
dence of  His  Word  for  things  which  we  have  not  seen, 
and  His  promises  exhibit  to  us  the  substance  of  what  we 
hope  to  enjoy,  because  He  has  pledged  His  veracity,  not 
because  our  reason  makes  it  manifest.  It  is  our  duty  to 
love  Him  so  as  to  be  zealous  for  discovering  what  He  has 
taught,  that  we  may  pay  to  Him  the  homage  of  our 
understanding,  as  well  by  its  exertion  as  by  its  submission. 
Let  me  then  exhort  you  to  this  love.  Investigate  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  the  knowledge  of  truth,  and  then  pay 
the  homage  of  your  will  by  determining  to  act  in  con- 
formity with  what  you  shall  have  discovered.  Submit  your 
affections  to  His  law,  bring  your  passions  in  subjection 
thereto.  Of  ourselves  we  are  weak,  in  His  grace  we  can 
become  strong.  His  institutions  have  been  established,  that 
through  them  we  might  be  strengthened  in  that  grace.  It 
is  therefore  our  duty,  as  it  is  our  interest,  to  have  recourse 
to  them.  Reason,  religion,  wisdom,  which  is  the  perfection 
of  both,  lead  us  to  this  conclusion.  It  necessarily,  then, 
is  incumbent  on  us  to  search  for  where  those  instutitions 
are  to  be  found. 

The  second  commandment  is  like  the  first :  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  for  the  sake  of  God.  The 
Apostle  asks  us,  How  can  a  man  say  that  he  loves  God 


DISCOURSE  BEFORE    CONGRESS.  25] 

whom  he  hath  not  seen,  and  hate  his  neighbor  whom  he 
seeth  ?  and  that  neighbor  is  made  in  the  likeness  of  God. 
The  Saviour  commands  us  even  to  love  our  enemies,  to 
<lo  good  to  those  who  hate  us,  and  to  pray  for  those  who 
calumniate  and  persecute  us.  Nothing  can  excuse  us  from 
the  discharge  of  this  duty,  the  observance  of  this  great 
commandment.  No  difference  of  religion  can  form  a  pre- 
text for  non-compliance.  Religion,  that  holy  name,  has  too 
often  been  abused  for  this  end,  that  man  might  flatter 
himself  with  having  the  sanction  of  heaven  for  the  indul- 
gence of  a  bad  passion.  In  these  happy  and  free  States 
we  stand  upon  the  equal  ground  of  religious  right ;  we 
may  freely  love  and  bear  with  each  other,  and  exhibit  to 
Europe  a  contrast  to  her  jealousies  in  our  affection.  By 
inquiry  we  shall  correct  many  mistakes,  by  which  our 
feelings  have  been  embittered ;  we  shall  be  more  bound 
together  in  amity,  as  we  become  more  intimate ;  and  may 
our  harmony  and  union  here  below  produce  that  peace  and 
good  will  emblematic  of  our  enjoyment  of  more  lasting 
happiness  in  a  better  world. 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.1 


IN  tracing  the  history  of  nations,  the  philosopher  discovers 
the  basis  upon  which  he  must  raise  his  general  observations, 
because  those  observations  are  usually  but  results  drawn  from 
a  multitude  of  facts.  For  this  purpose,  the  history  of  the 
savage  is  in  some  degree  as  necessary  as  the  history  of  civil- 
ized man;  because  in  the  one  we  see  the  development  of  our 
principles  and  passions  unrestrained  by  the  rules  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  in  the  other  we  find  the  consequences  of  those 
rules.  Thus,  the  proper  aim  of  philosophy  being  the  dis- 
covery of  that  wisdom  which  will  procure  human  happiness, 
the  history  of  the  human  race  is  amongst  the  best  studies 
of  the  philosopher. 

But  as  man  is  an  immortal  being,  whose  existence  continues 
beyond  the  span  of  his  sojourn  upon  this  earth,  and  who  will 
remain  in  his  new  state  during  eternity,  the  philosopher 
ought  to  inquire  in  the  history  of  the  human  race  for  those 
events  which  will  tend  proximately  or  remotely  to  elucidate 
the  important  concerns  of  his  perpetual  happiness ;  and 
several  of  those  are  to  be  found  in  the  religion  of  nations. 
Leaving  for  a  time  the  region  of  revelation,  let  us  examine 
some  of  the  facts  that  history  presents  to  our  view  in  those 
times  and  places  wherein  no  claim  is  made,  upon  sufficient 
grounds,  to  supernatural  instruction. 

A  writer  who,  by  his  pleasing  style  and  bold  manner, 
drew  after  liim  for  a  time,  not  only  the  light  and  thoughtless 
body  of  English  readers,  but  even  many  of  those  who  were 
distinguished  for  intellect,  has  by  a  fallacious  theory  diverted 
the  attention  of  several  men  of  genius  and  ability  from  fact 

'  An  Essay  read  at  a  public  meeting:  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society 
of  Charleston,  8.  C.,  at  the  City  Hall,  on  Wednesday,  January  10,  1827. 

(258) 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  253 

to  speculation ;  leaving  the  beaten  paths  of  earth,  he  rose  on 
the  wing  of  imagination  and  caused  his  followers  to  soar 
above  the  plain  way  of  events  into  the  clouds  of  conjecture ; 
and,  substituting  probability  for  evidence,  he  next  assumed 
possibility  for  fact,  and  thus  created  amusing  visions  for 
established  history.  From  what  had  thus  been  given  in 
place  of  the  proceedings  of  our  predecessors  he  drew  con- 
clusions which  were  perfectly  logical,  and  nothing  was 
requisite  to  uphold  their  truth,  save  that  which  was  the 
original  deficiency,  namely,  the  correctness  of  the  statement 
upon  which  they  rested.  But  a  more  discriminating  age 
is  detecting  the  aberrations  of  Mr.  Hume,  and  we,  too,  may 
add  our  little  examination  to  the  general  fund  of  evidence 
from  which  more  useful  materials  may  be  procured  by 
those  who  build  their  systems  upon  observation  and  not 
upon  imagination. 

One  of  this  gentleman's  theories  was,  that  polytheism  was 
the  original  religion  of  men,  and  that  this  original  religion 
was  created  by  an  affrighted  fancy.  Yet  even  for  this  he 
deserves  not  the  credit  of  originality,  as  a  pagan  poet  had 
been  amongst  his  leaders  in  the  assertion ;  and  with  as  little 
support  from  former  fact,  as  might  be  easily  seen.  Mr. 
Hume  proceeds  from  this  assumption  to  state,  that  as  man 
became  enlightened,  his  reason  corrected  the  superstition  of 
his  terror,  and  brought  him  to  acknowledge  the  unity  and 
supremacy  of  the  Deity;  hence,  he  would  conclude,  that 
man  has  no  knowledge  of  religion  except  from  the  progress 
of  his  reason,  and  that  the  notion  of  revealed  religion  is  a 
delusion.  If  the  facts  were  as  the  essayist  assumed,  his 
conclusions  would  be  good.  But  if  history  will  destroy  the 
assumed  correctness  of  his  statements,  his  argument  has  no 
foundation.  Hence,  the  investigation  becomes  to  all  men  a 
matter  of  importance,  and  it  would  appear  to  be  the  duty 
of  each  nation  to  bear  testimony  to  the  facts  which  come 
under  its  own  view. 

If  man  had  been  originally  a  savage,  who  reasoned  him- 
self into  civilization,  and  as  he  became  civilized  cast 


254  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

away  his  superstitions  and  religious  errors,  of  which  poly- 
theism was  the  most  absurd ;  the  savage  who  chases  the 
deer  through  our  wilderness  and  who  is  by  the  opponents  of 
revelation  said  to  invoke  the  Great  Spirit,  who  is  one  and 
impervious  to  the  senses,  must  surpass  in  his  civilization 
the  philosophers  of  Greece,  the  merchants  of  Egypt  and  of 
Tyre,  and  the  senate  and  the  people  of  Rome.  "  Red- 
Jacket  "  is  superior  to  Solon  or  to  Cicero,  "  The  Mad 
Tiger"  is  preferable  to  Socrates  or  to  Virgil.  Horace  and 
Pliny  must  bow  to  the  superior  wisdom  of  "  The  Sleep- 
ing Wolf"  and  of  "The  Cat  that  Watches."  Besides  the 
absurdity  of  such  consequences,  which  flow  legitimately  from 
the  assumed  principle  and  supposed  fact,  we  have  in  safe 
history  undoubted  evidence  that  theism  was  man's  first 
religion,  from  which  he  degenerated,  and  that  the  savage  was- 
not  his  original  state.  Sir  William  Jones  in  his  essay  on 
the  gods  of  Greece,  Italy,  and  India,  very  rationally  eluci- 
dates the  first  of  these  positions,  but  I  have  seen  it  far 
better  treated  and  upon  a  more  extensive  scale  by  a  French 
writer  of  the  last  century.  The  proof  of  the  latter  posi- 
tion cannot  be  mistaken  or  overlooked  by  any  attentive 
reader  of  ancient  history,  and  the  writer  to  whom  I  have 
alluded  finely  shows  the  progress  of  tribes  to  barbarism  in 
the  early  ages  of  the  world.  When  we  cast  our  eyes  upon 
Egypt,  Persia,  Greece,  and  the  northwestern  coast  of  Africar 
we  need  scarcely  recollect  the  shade  which  passed  over 
Europe  to  confirm  in  our  minds  the  truth  that  a  civilized 
people  may  degenerate,  and  that  the  human  mind  is  not 
steadily  and  uniformly  progressive.  There  is  a  delusive  sem- 
blance of  philosophy  which  constructs  theories  by  the  force  of 
imagination,  and  then  regulates  the  nature  of  occurences 
to  harmonize  with  these  preconcerted  systems.  There  i» 
also  a  duty  which  even  to  the  philosopher  is  not  always 
easy :  that  of  reconciling  minor  facts  to  a  principal  occur- 
rence of  whose  truth  he  has  convincing  evidence.  In  this 
case,  candor,  patience,  and  industry  will  generally  insure 
success  in  our  attempt  to  remove  the  apparent  incompatibil- 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  255- 

ities,  which  at  first  sight  startle  the  inexperienced,  prevent 
the  progress  of  the  idle,  and  give  occasion  to  the  false 
conclusions  of  the  thoughtless. 

Of  this  description  is  the  difficulty  which  presents  itself 
when  we  view  the  varieties  of  the  human  race,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  fact  that  all  those  beings  are  the  descendants- 
of  Noe.  The  difference  of  color,  the  difference  of  structure, 
the  difference  of  religion,  the  difference  of  customs,  and  the 
separation  of  continents,  have  been  obstacles  to  the  admis- 
sion of  the  common  origin  at  a  period  so  comparatively 
recent.  I  shall  not  touch  upon  the  first  two  topics,  but  L 
shall  advert  a  little  to  the  others;  though  the  facts  upon 
which  my  observations  will  rest  shall  not  be  all  adduced 
in  the  present  essay. 

I  wish  to  make  a  passing  remark  upon  the  theory  of  Mr. 
Hume,  before  I  enter  more  deeply  upon  my  subject.  We 
know  that  our  red  brethren  are  far  from  being  civilized.. 
^Ve  know  that  the  inhabitants  of  Greece  were  much  polished ;. 
that  the  Romans  excelled  us  in  many  of  the  accomplishments, 
of  the  social  state.  Yet  those  Greeks  and  Romans  were 
polytheists,  and  our  Indian  is  said  to  be  a  theist.  If  the 
Indian,  by  the  exercise  of  his  reason,  rose  from  polytheism, 
he  must  have  risen  from  the  barbarous  state  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman,  to  his  own  state  of  superior  civilization,  or  he 
has  in  his  rude  state  preserved  the  original  religion  of  his- 
fathers,  and  thus  their  original  religion  was  theism.  No 
person  will  venture  to  make  the  first  assertion.  Mr.  Hume 
would  not  permit  us  to  make  the  second.  But  is  the  name 
of  any  man  to  impede  our  progress  from  the  premises 
to  a  conclusion?  In  truth,  they  who  declaim  against  the 
vassalage  of  the  human  mind  to  religion,  will  be  found 
upon  inquiry  to  be  its  worst  tyrants.  But,  although  the 
discovery  might  not  be  made  upon  our  continent,  to  the 
antiquarian  this  exhibition  is  not  new.  Nations  have  been 
found  when  the  Roman  eagle  soared  in  his  loftiest  flight 
•and  the  Roman  people  bowed  in  their  most  degrading 
idolatry,  who  would  have  been  called  barbarian,  and  these 


256  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

people,  if  not  theists,  had  very  limited  polytheism.  The 
Irish  druid  is  said  by  many  antiquarians  to  have  been  a 
theist.  Evidence  of  his  religion  remains,  but  no  evidence 
has  been  exhibited  to  show  that  his  religion  regarded  more 
than  one  God;  though  that  God  was  Baal.  The  Persian 
worshiped  fire,  yet  it  is  not  so  clearly  established  that 
his  adoration  was  always  paid  to  the  element  and  not  to 
the  Deity  of  whom  earthly  and  celestial  fire  were  only 
emblems. 

If  our  opponent  argues  that  the  diversity  of  religion 
creates  suspicion  of  a  diversity  of  origin,  he  must  allow 
the  force  of  the  principle  that  similarity  of  religious  belief 
and  worship  seems  to  indicate  a  common  origin.  Indeed, 
though  neither  is  fully  evident,  the  latter  is  much  the 
more  probable.  Few  centuries  have  elapsed  since  European 
Christians  were  members  of  a  common  Church,  and  had 
almost  universal  singleness  of  faith ;  into  '  how  many  sects 
are  they  now  divided,  and  how  many  families  are  so 
opposed  in  belief  as  that  they  who  are  united  by  the 
closest  ties  of  nature  are  at  perfect  variance  upon  the  score 
of  religion?  But  if  we  discover  a  similarity  between  the 
religious  observances  of  the  American,  and  the  Persian,  and 
the  Hindoo,  we  may  more  naturally  conclude  that  they 
have  sprung  from  a  common  stock,  whence  they  brought 
those  observances,  or  had  a  common  teacher,  or  some  inter- 
course by  means  of  which  one  learned  from  the  other; 
because  it  would  contradict  our  experience  to  assert  that 
this  agreement  is  the  result  of  accident. 

The  French  writer,  to  whom  I  have  before  alluded, 
traces  the  human  family  from  its  renewal  after  the  deluge 
through  its  subsequent  migrations,  and  finds  in  climate,  in 
soil,  in  customs  produced  by  special  necessities  and  by 
occurrences  of  which  we  have  in  several  instances  good  his- 
torical evidence,  sufficient  cause  for  the  variance  of  worship 
and  the  origin  of  polytheism.  The  mythology  of  several 
portions  of  mankind  is  in  admirable  accordance  with  what  ' 
he  lays  down.  Thus,  the  Egyptian  found  in  the  very  leek 


.  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  257 

of  his  garden  a  portion  of  that  great  spirit  which  ani- 
mated the  universe,  and  which  poured  fertility  upon  the 
land,  when  from  the  hidden  recess  of  his  dwelling  he  com- 
municated himself  through  the  medium  of  water.  The  Per- 
sian beheld  his  glories  in  the  sun,  and  the  heat  of  fire  was 
the  sacred  mode  through  which  his  blessings  were  bestowed. 
In  Scandinavia  he  spoke  in  the  whirlwind,  and  passed 
along  creating  the  solemnity  of  terror,  and  acknowledged 
by  the  howlings  of  the  invisible  spirits  of  the  forest ;  his 
abode  was  on  the  summit  of  the  rocks,  or  in  the  recesses' 
of  caverns,  and  his  rage  urged  on  the  desolating  flood;  far 
from  exhibiting  his  beneficence  by  water,  he  gave  it  in  his 
wrath.  Thus,  the  Scandinavian  abhorred  what  the  Egyptian 
worshiped. 

I  believe,  then,  that  to  the  calm  and  unbiased  investi- 
gator of  ancient  history  and  of  the  customs  and  religious 
observances  of  those  nations  which  have  not  been  blessed 
with  the  light  of  revelation,  it  will  appear  that  the  original 
religion  of  mankind  was  theism,  and  that  the  several  systems 
of  polytheism  and  idolatry  will  appear  to  have  arisen  from 
various  circumstances  in  different  places,  joined  to  the  cor- 
ruption of  man's  heart  and  the  feebleness  of  his  intellect ; 
and  that  many  kinds  of  superstition  having  thus  arisen 
amongst  a  people  whose  ancestors  had  a  common  religion 
prescribing  the  worship  of  one  God,  the  characters  of  those 
several  superstitions  were  originally  unlike,  but  having  once 
been  established  in  the  primitive  nations,  the  observances 
would  continue  with  some  alterations  in  those  nations  and 
in  their  colonies,  and  hence,  that  a  striking  similitude  of 
religious  observances  between  two  tribes  would  lead  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  had  a  common  origin. 

Of  course  the  resemblance  must  be  striking,  and  the 
coincidence,  however  exact,  can  form  but  one  link  of  the 
chain  which  would  bind  them  in  a  common  origin.  Upon 
this  subject  I  shall  close  my  observations  with  an  extract 
from  a  dissertation  by  Sir  William  Jones,  in  whose  senti- 
ments, as  here  given,  I  fully  concur : 


RELIGION  OF  AME1UCAN  INDIANS. 

"We  cannot  justly  conclude,  by  arguments  preceding  the 
proof  of  facts,  that  one  idolatrous  people  must  have  borrowed 
their  deities,  rites,  and  tenets  from  another ;  since  gods  of 
all  shapes  and  dimensions  may  be  framed  by  the  boundless 
powers  of  imagination,  or  by  the  fraud  and  follies  of  men, 
in  countries  never  connected.  But  when  features  of  resem- 
blance, too  strong  to  have  been  accidental,  are  observable 
in  different  systems  of  polytheism,  without  fancy  or  prejudice 
to  color  them  and  improve  the  likeness,  we  can  scarcely 
help  believing  that  some  connection  has  immemorially  sub- 
sisted between  the  several  nations  who  have  adopted  them. 
It  is  my  design  in  this  essay  to  point  out  such  a  resemblance 
between  the  popular  worship  of  the  old  Greeks  and  Italians, 
and  that  of  the  Hindoos ;  nor  can  there  be  any  room  to 
doubt  of  a  great  similarity  between  their  strange  religions 
and  those  of  Egypt,  China,  Persia,  Phcenice,  Syria ;  to 
which  perhaps  we  may  safely  add  some  of  the  southern 
kingdoms,  and  even  islands  of  America;  while  the  Gothic 
system,  which  prevailed  in  the  northern  regions  of  Europe, 
was  not  merely  similar  to  that  of  Greece  and  Italy,  but 
almost  the  same  in  another  dress,  with  an  embroidery  of 
images  apparently  Asia-tic.  From  all  these,  if  it  can  be 
satisfactorily  proved,  we  may  infer  a  union  or  affinity  between 
the  most  distinguished  inhabitants  of  the  primitive  world 
at  the  time  when  they  deviated,  as  they  did  too  early  deviate, 
from  the  rational  adoration  of  the  only  true  God." 

The  learned  and  philosophical  author  compiled  the  essay 
in  which  this  is  found  in  the  year  1784.  In  his  discourse 
"On  the  Origin  of  Families  and  Nations,"  delivered  before 
the  Asiatic  Society  in  Calcutta,  on  the  23d  of  February, 
1792,  he  states  as  a  corollary  from  testimonies  adduced 
in  six  previous  annual  discourses,  the  great  likelihood  "that 
the  tribes  of  Mish,  Cush  and  Rama  settled  in  Africa  and 
India;  while  some  of  them,  having  improved  the  art  of 
sailing,  passed  from  Egypt,  Phcenice,  Phrygia,  into  Italy 
and  Greece,  which  they  found  thinly  peopled  by  former 
emigrants,  of  whom  they  supplanted  some  tribes,  and  united 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  259 

themselves  with  others ;  whilst  a  swarm  from  the  same  hive 
moved  by  a  northerly  course  into  Scandinavia,  and  another 
by  the  head  of  the  Oxus,  and  through  the  passes  of  the 
Imaus  into  Cashghcr  and  Eighur,  Khata  and  Khoten,  as 
far  as  the  territories  of  Chin  and  Tancut,  where  letters  have 
been  used  and  arts  immemorially  cultivated;  nor  is  it 
unreasonable  to  believe  that  some  of  them  found  their  way 
from  the  eastern  isles  into  Mexico  and  Peru,  where  traces 
were  discovered  of  rude  literature  and  mythology,  analogous 
to  those  of  Egypt  and  India." 

As  my  aim  is  to  excite  my  associates  and  fellow-citizens 
to  investigate  the  history  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  our 
rising  and  prosperous  country,  I  may  be  again  permitted 
to  make  an  interesting  extract  from  the  work  of  the  great 
President  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  as  it  will  exhibit  in  that 
elder  continent  the  attainment  of  a  result  which  I  am  con- 
vinced must  always  be  found  the  consequence  of  impartial, 
and  judicious,  and  truly  philosophical  investigation.  I  would 
desire  to  urge  forward  on  this  continent  those  who  have 
more  leisure,  more  opportunity,  and  better  qualifications  than 
I  can  pretend  to.  I  would  entreat  of  them  fully  to  investi- 
gate the  history  of  a  race  too  quickly,  I  fear,  about  to 
disappear  from  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  to  place  on 
record  those  facts  whose  truth  could  be  established,  in  the 
hope,  and  indeed  with  the  confidence,  that  in  America  the 
result  would  be  the  same  as  it  has  been  found  in  Asia, 
as  is  testified  and  proved  by  Sir  William  Jones. 

"  In  the  first  place,  we  cannot  surely  deem  it  an  incon- 
siderable advantage,  that  all  our  historical  researches  have 
confirmed  the  Mosaic  accounts  of  the  primitive  world ;  and 
our  testimony  on  that  subject  ought  to  have  the  greater 
weight,  because,  if  the  result  of  our  observations  had  been 
totally  different,  we  should  nevertheless  have  published  them, 
not  indeed  with  equal  pleasure,  but  with  equal  confidence, 
for  truth  is  mighty,  and  whatever  be  its  consequence,  must 
always  prevail.  But  independently  of  our  interest  in  corrob- 
orating the  multiplied  evidences  of  revealed  religion,  we 


260  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

could    scarcely  gratify  our    minds    with    a    more    useful    and 
rational   entertainment   than   the    contemplation  of   those  won- 
derful    revolutions     in     kingdoms     and     States,    which     have 
happened     within     little     more     than     four    thousand     years ; 
revolutions    almost    as    fully   demonstrative    of    an    all-ruling 
Providence,    as    the    structure    of  the    universe    and   the    final 
causes,   which    are    discernible    in    its   whole   extent   and    even 
in  its  minutest  parts.     Figure  to  your  imagination  a  moving 
picture    of    that    eventful    period,    or    rather    a   succession   of 
crowded     scenes     rapidly    changed.       Three     families    migrate 
in     different     courses    from    one    region,   and    in    about    four 
centuries     establish    very    distant     governments     and    various 
modes    of    society.      Egyptians,    Indians,    Goths,    Phenicians, 
Celts,    Greeks,     Latins,    Chinese,     Peruvians,     Mexicans,    all, 
sprung  from  the  same  immediate  stem,  appear  to  start  nearly 
at    one    time,  and    occupy  at    length  those   countries,  to  which 
they   have    given    or    from    which    they   have    derived    their 
names.       In     twelve    or    thirteen    hundred    years    more,     the 
Greeks    overrun   the   land   of  their    forefathers,    invade    India, 
conquer    Egypt,    and    aim    at   universal    dominion.     But    the 
Romans     appropriate     to     themselves     the    whole    empire    of 
Greece,    and    carry  their    arms    into    Britain,   of    which    they 
speak   with    haughty    contempt.     The    Goths,  in    the    fullness 
of    time,    break    to    pieces    the    unwieldy  colossus    of    Roman 
power,    and   seize    on   the   whole    of    Britain,   except    its    wild 
mountains ;    but   even    those    wilds     become    subject   to    other 
invaders    of    the    same    Gothic     lineage.       During    all    these 
transactions,  the   Arabs    possess    both    coasts    of  the   Red  Sea, 
subdue    the    old   seat   of    their    first    progenitors,    and    extend 
their    conquests    on    one    side,    through     Africa    into     Europe 
itself  and    on   another    beyond   the    borders    of  India,  part  of 
which   they  annex    to  their  flourishing    empire.     In  the  same 
interval,    the    Tartars,   widely   diffused    over     the   rest   of   the 
globe,   swarm   into   the   northeast,  whence    they   rush   to   com- 
plete  the    reduction    of    Constantine's    beautiful     domains,    to 
subjugate   China,  to   raise   in   these    Indian   realms    a  dynasty 
splendid    and    powerful,  and    to    ravage,  like    the   two    other 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  261 

families,  the  devoted  regions  of  Iran.  By  this  time  the 
Mexicans  and  the  Peruvians,  with  many  races  of  adven- 
turers variously  intermixed,  have  peopled  the  continent  and 
isles  of  America,  which  the  Spaniards,  having  restored  their 
old  government  in  Europe,  discover,  and  in  part  overcome. 
But  a  colony  from  Britain,  of  which  Cicero  ignorantly 
declared  that  it  contained  nothing  valuable,  obtain  the  pos- 
session, and  finally  the  sovereign  dominion  of  extensive 
American  districts,  whilst  other  British  subjects  acquire  a 
subordinate  empire  in  the  finest  provinces  in  India,  which 
the  victorious  troops  of  Alexander  were  unwilling  to  attack. 
This  outline  of  human  transactions,  as  far  as  it  includes  the 
limits  of  Asia,  we  can  only  hope  to  fill  up,  to  strengthen 
and  to  color  by  the  help  of  Asiatic  literature ;  for  in  history 
as  in  law,  we  must  not  follow  streams,  when  we  may  inves- 
tigate fountains,  nor  admit  any  secondary  proof,  where 
primary  evidence  is  attainable." 

The  discourse  from  which  this  is  extracted  was  delivered 
on  the  28th  of  February,  1793.  Little  more  than  thirty 
years  have  elapsed  since  that  period,  and  how  many  aston- 
ishing revolutions  have  occurred !  Take  the  map  of  Europe 
as  it  then  was  and  compare  it  with  what  is  now  placed 
before  the  world.  Events  which  might  be  spread  over  the 
pages  which  history  allots  to  centuries  are  crowded  within 
a  portion  of  the  tablet  which  is  given  to  individual  recol- 
lection. Crowns  are  immersed  in  the  blood  of  those  whom 
they  were  given  to  decorate.  Wild  anarchy  celebrates  her 
orgies  amid  the  mangled  corpses  of  a  devoted  nation,  and 
dares  to  pollute  the  sacred  name  of  freedom  with  her 
blaspheming  lips.  The  very  divisions  of  time  are  changed 
to  attempt  the  obliteration  of  that  first  institution  of  the 
Creator,  which  gives  rest  to  the  weary  and  hope  to  the 
desponding.  The  vilest  outcasts  of  the  more  virtuous  sex 
are  placed  upon  the  altars  of  the  living  God  for  homage  of 
those  men  who  boasted  that  they  were  to  illuminate  a 
benighted  world.  Congregated  potentates  of  Europe  are 
resisted  successfully  by  a  stripling  to  whom  this  nation 


262  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

entrusts  her  destinies;  almost  each  of  her  capitals  sees  him 
seated  above  her  throne,  and  almost  every  one  of  her 
monarchs  is  the  creature  of  his  will,  until  the  blasphemy 
has  ceased  and  the  impiety  is  removed.  Then  he  who  was 
in  himself  a  dynasty  becomes  a  captive  and  perishes  in 
prison  as  singular  in  its  construction  as  was  the  career  of 
him  whose  ashes  it  contains. 

How  rapid  also  has  been  the  progress  of  this  western 
hemisphere  within  that  little  time !  Here  too  the  work  of 
centuries  has  been  accomplished  in  less  than  half  a  century. 
Britain,  it  is  true,  possesses  one  million  of  subjects  on  our 
northern  frontier ;  can  these  be  the  American  districts  of 
which  the  president  of  the  Asiatic  Society  boasted  that 
Britain  had  the  sovereignty?  At  the  time  of  the  delivery 
of  his  discourse,  perhaps  some  lurking  hope  remained  that 
the  old  colonies  would  request  the  protection  of  their  former 
stepmother.  But  that  hope  has  long  since  been  extinguished, 
and  forever ;  where  three  millions  of  subjects  had  been  in 
a  state  of  political  dependence,  and  several  of  them  under 
religious  disqualification,  now  over  ten  millions  of  freemen 
enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  civil  and  religious  liberty:  their 
flag  is  seen  on  every  ocean,  and  their  consuls  reside  in 
every  port.  •  The  Spaniard  too  has  lost  his  dominion,  and 
on  the  south  as  in  the  west,  the  progress  of  freedom  and 
of  improvement  is  indeed  astonishing.  And  may  I  be 
permitted  to  add  the  expression  of  my  hope  that  "  the 
beautiful  domains  of  Constantino"  may  receive,  from  heaven 
and  from  earth,  sufficient  aid  to  be  at  length  successful  in 
their  effort  to  expel  the  drones  of  the  northeastern  hive? 

But  what  has  been  my  object  in  this  apparent  digression? 
To  show  that  when  we  calculate  upon  the  progress  of  events 
by  the  progress  of  time,  we  are  frequently  led  to  erroneous 
conclusions.  Frequently  indeed  appearing  to  accelerate  his 
pace,  he  seems  to  outstrip  events,  and  a  century  would,  by 
some  whose  system  of  analogy  is  too  perfect  for  an  imperfect 
state  of  being,  be  charged  as  erroneously  inserted.  At  other 
times  the  philosophist,  though  the  evidence  of  facts  was 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  263 

perfect,  would  by  speculation  prove  to  his  own  satisfaction, 
and  to  the  amusement  of  others,  that  it  was  impossible  for 
these  occurrences  to  have  taken  place  within  the  period 
assigned  in  the  record.  He  would  thus  treat  history  with 
as  little  mercy  as  Procrustes  treated  his  guests. 

I  would  propose  that  such  speculations  should  be  alto- 
getlier  laid  aside,  that  we  should  endeavor  to  follow  that 
plan  upon  which  the  Asiatic  Society  proceeded,  that  we 
should  in  America  endeavor  to  discover,  and  to  discuss,  and 
to  preserve  those  facts  connected  with  the  aborigines  of  our 
country,  which  might  tend  not  only  to  exhibit  much  curious 
and  interesting  information  to  gratify  the  public,  but  which 
would  greatly  tend  to  elucidate  subjects  which  are  of  great 
importance  to  the  whole  human  race. 

My  present  object  is  to  lay  before  you  some  general 
observations  which  1  think  arise  from  the  view  of  facts 
respecting  the  religion  of  the  aboriginal  possessors  of  this 
vast  continent.  Those  which  I  shall  exhibit  are  few  and 
deficient  of  interest  in  themselves,  but  they  may  prove  in 
their  result  very  useful  to  lead  us  to  rational  conclusions 
as  to  the  origin  of  this  people.  I  am  aware  that  my 
information  is  extremely  limited  upon  this  subject,  but 
probably  some  of  the  facts  upon  which  my  observations 
rest  are  not  very  generally  known,  and  my  effort  will  at 
all  events,  I  trust,  produce  the  one  good  effect  of  eliciting 
for  the  public  benefit  much  more  extensive  and  interesting 
details  than  I  have  had  the  leisure  or  the  opportunity  to 
collect.  The  facts  to  which  I  refer  are  testified  by  the 
missionaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  are  such 
as  have  fallen  under  their  own  observation  during  their 
residence  in  the  midst  of  the  tribes  whose  language  they 
learned  and  whose  customs  they  carefully  observed,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  discharge  the  solemn  duty  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  The  relators  are  persons  who  had 
received  the  most  liberal  education,  and  who  voluntarily 
relinquished  all  the  advantages  of  civilized  society,  and 
buried  themselves  in  the  depths  of  the  wilderness,  exposed 


264  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

to  every  privation  and  affliction,  for  the  sake  of  bearing 
the  testimony  of  truth  to  a  neglected  portion  of  their 
brethren ;  they  foresaw  the  probability  of  martyrdom,  and 
it  was  not  unfrequently  the  recompense  of  their  laborious 
devotion  to  the  Gospel  of  truth.  Their  letters  were  not 
intended  generally  for  publication,  but  were  the  official 
communications  of  what  was  their  observation  of  the  progress 
which  they  made,  transmitted  to  their  superiors.  Thus  we 
may  safely  look  upon  them  as  good  witnesses,  being  com- 
petent and  faithful. 

In  a  former  part  of  this  essay,  I  used  the  assertion  of 
those  who,  whilst  they  denied  the  truth  of  revelation, 
asserted  that  our  Indian  tribes  were  pure  theists,  who 
worshiped  only  one  God.  In  order  to  refute  their  assumed 
principle,  and  to  destroy  that  theory  which  they  have  sub- 
stituted for  history,  I  now  come  to  the  examination  of  the 
questions :  Is  the  religion  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  America 
pure  theism,  or  are  they  idolaters?  Have  they  any  religious 
system?  And  if  they  have,  what  is  its  leading  characteristic? 

Father  Sebastian  Rasles,  a  Jesuit,  who  was  slain  at 
Narantsonak,  an  Indian  settlement,  in  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Maine,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1724,  left  France  in  July, 
1689,  for  the  missions  of  Canada,  and  arrived  on  the  13th 
of  October,  in  the  same  year,  at  Quebec,  when  he  imme- 
diately commenced  the  study  of  the  Indian  languages. 
Father  de  la  Chasse,  of  the  same  society,  and  superior  of 
the  missions  of  New  France,  writes  of  him  in  the  month 
of  October,  subsequent  to  his  death :  "  We  were  surprised 
at  the  facility  with  which  he  could  acquire  languages,  and 
the  application  with  which  he  sought  the  knowledge  of  the 
dialects  of  the  different  tribes.  There  is  not  a  dialect  on 
this  continent  of  which  he  had  not  some  tincture.  Besides 
the  language  of  the  Abnakis,  which  he  spoke  during  a  long 
period,  he  knew  also  the  Huron  tongue,  that  of  the  Ottaways 
and  that  of  the  Illinois ;  he  had  served  with  great  fruit  in 
the  several  missions  where  they  are  used." 

In    the    month    of    October,    preceding    his    death,    Father 


RELIGION   OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  265 

Rasles  wrote  to  his  brother  a  very  long  letter,  giving  an 
outline  of  his  labors  and  observations,  during  upwards  of 
thirty  years'  continual  residence  in  one  or  other  of  the 
tribes  which  occupied  the  range  of  country  from  Kaskaskia 
to  Lake  Superior,  and  skirting  the  then  British  settlements 
round  on  the  north  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  In 
this  he  remarks,  that  he  found  the  general  principle  of 
their  superstition  was  the  same  as  that  which  he  discovered 
amongst  the  Ottowas.  This  people,  he  states,  worship  Man- 
itous,  and  the  description  which  he  gives  of  this  worship 
bears  a  strong  similitude  to  that  which  we  find  amongst 
pagan  nations,  save  that  their  worship  was  not  generally 
public  and  social,  but  private  and  paid  by  them  individ- 
ually. Though  they  speak  of  spirits,  yet  being  acquainted 
only  with  sensible  objects,  especially  the  animals  found  in 
their  country,  they  imagine  that  in  these  animals,  or  rather 
in  their  skins  or  plumage,  there  exist  Manitous,  or  Genii, 
or  spirits  who  govern  the  universe,  and  are  the  masters- 
of  life  and  death.  They  call  the  great  spirit  of  all  beasts- 
and  birds  Oussakita,  or,  as  we  would  pronounce  it,  Was- 
sakita.  There  are  Manitous  who  preside  over  nations,  and 
each  individual  has  his  own.  When  they  went  to  hunt 
they  made  offerings  of  tobacco,  powder,  and  lead,  and  of 
the  skins  of  beasts,  well  dressed,  to  Wassakita.  The  offer- 
ing was  fastened  to  the  end  of  a  pole  and  raised  on  high, 
accompanied  by  a  prayer  to  the  following  effect : — "  Wassa- 
kita, we  present  to  thee  the  herb  for  smoke,  and  the 
means  of  slaying  beasts :  vouchsafe  to  receive  these  presents, 
and  do  not  permit  the  game  to  escape  our  track ;  allow 
us  to  kill  them  in  great  numbers,  and  of  the  very  fattest, 
that  our  children  may  not  want  either  clothing  or  food." 

Michibichi  was  the  Manitou  of  the  waters  and  of  fish, 
and  sacrifice  was  offered  to  him  in  nearly  the  same  man- 
ner when  they  were  going  to  fish  or  make  a  voyage. 
This  sacrifice  was  made  by  casting  into  the  waters  tobacco, 
food,  kettles,  etc.,  beseeching  him  that  the  waters  of  the 
river  might  flow  gently,  that  no  rock  should  break  the 
canoe,  and  that  he  would  grant  them  abundance  of  fish. 


266  RELIGION   OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

I  am  greatly  inclined  to  believe  that  the  mode  in  which 
individuals  selected  their  Manitous  is  the  foundation  of 
those  names  of  Indians  which  are  so  peculiar  to  our  abo- 
rigines. The  subject  might,  perhaps,  be  worth  an  inquiry, 
unless  more  be  known  concerning  it  than  I  am  as  yet 
aware  of.  The  account  given  by  Father  llasles  of  the 
selection  is  as  follows : 

"  When  an  Indian  wishes  to  adopt  a  Manitou,  the  first 
animal  which  presents  itself  to  his  imagination  during  sleep 
is  generally  that  which  he  selects.  He  kills  one  of  this 
description,  and  places  the  skin  or  plumage  in  the  most 
respectable  part  of  his  hut ;  then  he  prepares  a  feast  in 
its  honor,  during  which  he  makes  his  harangue  in  terms 
the  most  respectful.  Thenceforward  it  is  recognized  as  his 
Manitou." 

He  also  gives  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
Indian  uses  this  consecrated  spoil :  "  Besides  the  common 
Manitou,  each  has  his  own  individually,  which  is  either  a 
bear,  or  a  beaver,  or  a  bustard,  or  some  such  animal. 
He  carries  the  skin  of  this  animal  with  him  to  war,  on 
hunting  expeditions,  and  on  his  journeys;  he  is  persuaded  / 
that  it  will  preserve  him  from  every  danger,  and  make 
him  successful  in  his  enterprises." 

Amongst  the  different  tribes  through  which  he  passed, 
from  leaving  the  Hurons  and  Ottowas  and  arriving  in  the 
country  of  Illinois,  he  reckons,  of  different  tongues,  the 
following  tribes :  Maskoutings,  Jakis,  Omikoues,  Iripegouans, 
Outagamis.  Most  of  those  names  probably  differ  in  the 
mode  of  spelling  from  that  by  which  we  should  better 
recognize  them.  However,  in  1768,  Carver  informs  us  that 
the  Ottegamias  were  met  by  him,  but  farther  west;  and 
in  1780  Hutchins  mentions  them  as  a  considerable  tribe  in 
Illinois.  Between  those  five  nations  and  the  Ottowas  he 
states  the  only  difference  is  in  language,  consequently,  they 
were  worshipers  of  the  Manitous. 

The  next  piece  of  evidence  which  I  adduce  is  founded 
upon  the  testimony  of  Father  Gabriel  Marest,  of  the  same 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  267 

society,  in  a  letter  written  by  him  to  Father  German,  also 
a  Jesuit.  It  is  dated  from  Kaskaskia,  November  9,  1732. 
Father  Rasles  was  still  living,  but  had  been  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years  withdrawn  from  the  mission  of  Illinois  and 
stationed  amongst  the  Abnakis.  In  stating  the  situation  of 
the  place  from  which  he  writes,  he  informs  the  person  to 
whom  his  letter  is  addressed,  that  the  Illinois  discharges 
itself  into  the  Mississippi  in  little  less  than  the  39th 
degree  of  latitude.  I  believe  it  is  but  about  eight  minutes 
south  of  the  39th  degree,  upon  our  best  modern  maps. 
Seven  leagues  below  this  he  fixes  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
souri, which,  he  writes,  was  better  known  then  by  the 
name  of  Pekitanoui,  or  the  muddy  river.  After  describing 
the  country  as  far  as  the  "Wabasb,  and  fixing  the  latitude 
of  Kaskaskia  in  the  38th  degree,  where  it  appears  on  our 
modern  maps,  he  proceeds  to  give  the  account  of  the  people 
who  occupied  the  country. 

It  would  be  hard,  he  writes,  to  say  what  was  their 
religion,  for  it  consisted  only  in  some  superstitious  practices 
by  which  their  credulity  was  imposed  upon ;  and  giving 
similar  reasons  as  those  which  we  have  before  seen  for  the 
worship  of  the  Manitous  in  the  manner  described,  he  pro- 
coeds  to  a  more  particular  detail. 

"  The  warriors,"  he  writes,  "  carry  their  Manitous  in  a 
mat,  and  unceasingly  invoke  them  to  be  victorious  over 
their  enemies ;  the  charlatans  likewise  have  recourse  to  their 
Manitous,  when  they  compose  their  medicine  or  heal  their 
sick ;  they  accompany  those  invocations  with  songs  and 
dances,  and  frightful  contortions,  to  create  the  belief  that 
they  are  agitated  by  their  Manitous."  "  Who,  they  say,  can 
resist  the  power  of  the  Manitou?  Is  he  not  the  master 
•of  life  and  of  death?  If  the  patient  dies,  the  death  is 
attributed  to  some  occurrence  which  took  place  after  the 
departure  of  the  charlatan."  I  have  seen  in  one  of  the 
letters  an  account  of  an  attack  made  upon  an  Iroquois 
Christian,  as  the  death  of  a  woman  who  had  been  under 
the  influence  of  the  Manitous,  was  attributed  by  the  char- 


268  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

latan  to  the  repetition  of  the  beads.  Father  Marest  relates 
a  similar  occurrence  within  a  month  previous  to  the  date 
of  this  letter  in  Illinois,  and  also  gives  an  account  of  many, 
narrow  escapes  of  his  own  on  similar  occasions.  This 
Father  places  upon  record  the  account  of  a  very  curious 
public  conference,  which  took  place  some  time  previous  to 
the  date  of  his  letter,  between  Father  Marmet  and  one  of 
the  conjurers  of  the  tribe  of  Mascoutens,  who  dwelt  upon 
the  "VVabash.  The  conjuror  adored  a  buffalo  as  his  Mani- 
tou.  The  Father  gradually  brought  him  to  declare  that  it 
was  not  the  buffalo,  but  the  Manitou  of  the  buffalo,  which 
was  under  the  earth,  was  the  object  of  his  adoration,  and 
that  it  was  this  Manitou  which  did  benefit  to  his  patients; 
he  farther  brought  him  to  acknowledge  that  the  bear,  the 
wolf,  and  the  other  animals  whose  Manitous  his  country- 
men adored  were  also  powerless.  He  then  asked  if  man, 
wrho  was  the  master  of  beasts,  had  not  a  special  Manitou, 
to  which  the  other  answered,  that  doubtless  he  had,  whence" 
the  Father  drew  the  inference  from  him,  that  as  man  had 
dominion  over  the  beasts,  the  Manitou  of  man  was  supe- 
rior to  all  others,  and  that  it  was  folly  to  invoke  those 
who  were  subordinate,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  him  who  was 
superior.  Whatever  the  force  of  the  reasoning  might  have 
been,  it  was  lost  upon  the  conjurer  and  his  followers. 

The  fact  of  sacrifice  being  offered  to  the  Manitou  is  very 
clearly  established  in  this  letter  of  Father  Marest.  He 
states  that  a  great  mortality  occurred  amongst  the  Indians 
on  the  "VVabash,  near  the  station  of  Father  Marmet.  During 
the  prevalence  of  the  sickness,  the  conjurers,  finding  the 
deaths  increase,  held'  a  solemn  assembly,  at  which  nearly 
forty  dogs  were  slain,  and  the  victims,  thus  immolated, 
were  lifted  on  poles  and  offered  to  the  Manitou,  in  order 
to  implore  the  removal  of  the  plague.  When  the  mortality 
increased  they  attributed  it  to  their  Manitou  having  been 
overcome  by  the  Deity  of  the  French,  and  the  chief  conjurer 
made  a  procession  round  the  fort,  acknowledging  that  life 
and  death  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Manitou  of  the  French, 


UEL1GION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  269 

and  that  the  Indians  were  almost  exterminated,  and  entreat- 
ing the  good  Manitou  to  keep  death  back  and  to  send  forth 
life  from  his  coffer,  that  they  might  be  healed.  An  instance 
of  an  opposite  description  is  also  testified  in  this  letter. 
Father  Bergier,  the  missionary  in  the  village  of  the  Tam- 
arouas,  having  died,  the  conjurers  came  into  the  village 
after  the  departure  of  Father  Marest,  who  had  interred  him, 
and  danced  with  great  joy  round  the  cross  which  had  been 
planted  in  the  centre  of  the  village,  each  boasting  as  he 
sung  that  it  was  his  Manitou  that  caused  the  missionary's 
death;  they  concluded  by  pulling  up  the  cross  and  breaking 
it  to  pieces. 

Coming  down  farther  on  the  Mississippi,  we  shall  make, 
for  the  present,  but  a  transitory  visit  to  the  Natchez.  In 
the  month  of  July,  1730,  Father  Petit,  of  New  Orleans, 
gave  an  account  of  the  massacre  committed  upon  the  French 
at  Natchez,  on  the  28th  of  the  preceding  November,  to 
Father  Avaugour,  the  procurator  of  the  North  American 
missions. 

In  this  letter  he  states  that  the  Natchez  is  the  only  nation 
on  this  continent  that  appears  to  have  a  system  of  religion 
regularly  established,  and  he  finds  much  similarity  between 
some  of  their  practices  and  religious  customs  and  those  of 
the  ancient  Romans.  Probably  we  shall  draw  different  con- 
clusions at  another  time,  than  that  the  aborigines  of  this 
continent  either  were  a  Roman  colony,  or  derived  their 
religion  from  Italy.  I  shall  at  present  confine  myself  to  a 
mere  recital  of  facts,  of  whose  truth  I  am  convinced  by  the 
testimony.  At  Natchez  they  had  a  temple  filled  with  idols ; 
those  idols  were  figures  of  men  and  beasts,  and  were  held 
in  the  highest  veneration.  The  architecture  was  indeed 
rude ;  the  place  had  the  appearance  of  a  large  oven  of 
earth,  about  one  hundred  feet  in  circumference,  and  the 
entrance  to  its  interior  was  through  a  door  of  only  four  feet 
in  height,  by  three  wide;  it  had  no  window,  and  the  roof 
was  protected  by  a  triple  covering  of  mats.  On  the  outside 
were  the  wooden  figures  of  three  eagles,  one  white,  one  red, 


270  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

and  one  yellow ;  in  front  of  the  door  was  a  porch,  with 
an  outer  door ;  the  guardian  of  the  temple  held  his  station 
in  this  porch ;  a  palisade  enclosed  the  whole ;  and  on  this 
were  placed  the  skulls  of  those  whom  their  warriors  had 
slain. 

Within  the  temple  were  shelves  upon  which  the  bones 
of  their  chieftains  were  kept  in  baskets,  and  those  of  their 
attendants,  Avho  were  immolated  to  accompany  them  in  death, 
were  placed  near  the  remains  of  the  chief.  But  one  shelf, 
which  stood  alone,  had  several  painted  boxes,  in  which  the 
idols  were  kept ;  they  were  stone  and  brick  figures  of  men 
and  women,  the  heads  and  tails  of  extraordinary  serpents,  the 
skins  of  owls  stuffed  with  grass,  pieces  of  crystal,  and  the 
jaws  of  large  fishes.  In  the  year  1699,  they  had  a  bottle 
and  the  bottom  of  a  glass  which  they  preserved  with  great 
care.  The  sisters  of  the  great  chief  were  the  only  women 
who  had  permission  to  enter  the  temple,  and  only  some  of 
the  men  had  the  privilege;  the  common  people  were  not 
allowed  even  to  carry  in  the  food  which  was  to  be  placed 
near  the  relics  of  their  friends,  to  satisfy  their  spirits,  but 
it  was  carried  by  the  guardian.  About  a  century  since  the 
nation  had  six  villages  only,  but  each  possessed  its  temple;, 
however,  their  statement  was  that  at  one  period  they  had 
sixty  towns,  in  each  of  which  there  was  an  edifice  of  this- 
kind. 

I  suspected,  at  first,  that  the  idols  might  have  been  only 
kept  as  in  a  museum,  more  as  objects  of  curiosity  than  for 
the  purposes  of  worship ;  but  a  little  examination  soon  con- 
vinced me  that  this  conjecture  was  unfounded,  as  I  perceived 
distinct  evidence  to  the  contrary.  Two  great  festivals  were 
annually  celebrated  at  the  temple,  at  the  termination  of  each 
of  which,  in  the  exhortation  to  the  discharge  of  duty  given 
by  the  chief,  the  principal  and  concluding  admonition 
regarded  the  worship  of  the  spirits  which  resided  in  the 
temple,  and  the  instruction  of  the  children  in  their  religious 
duties  to  them.  In  the  year  1702,  the  temple  of  Natchez 
was  destroyed  by  lightning,  and  seven  or  eight  women, 


RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  271 

who  cast  their  children  into  the  flames  for  the  purpose  of 
appeasing  the  gods  by  the  sacrifice  of  what  they  held  most 
dear,  were  publicly  applauded  for  this  act  of  religion  by 
the  chief,  who  also  exhorted  the  other  women,  on  similar 
occasions,  to  imitate  so  excellent  an  example.  The  first 
fruits  of  the  harvest  were  also  brought  to  be  offered  at 
this  temple,  and  all  gifts  made  to  the  nation  were  first 
presented  within,  by  the  guardian,  to  the  deities,  before 
they  were  taken  to  the  chief,  who  subsequently  distributed 
them.  A  perpetual  fire  was  kept  burning  herein,  but 
great  care  was  taken  to  prevent  its  blazing ;  the  guardianr 
who  during  his  quarter  of  duty  staid  in  the  porch,  had  care 
of  this  fire ;  the  old  men  brought  the  fuel,  which  was  either 
oak  or  walnut  tree,  and  the  logs  were  never  laid  over  cack 
other  lest  a  blaze  should  be  produced. 

The  chief  appoints  the  guardians  of  the  temple.  But  the 
sun  was  their  principal  object  of  adoration,  and  the  chief 
was  therefore  styled  the  brother  of  the  sun,  and  his  hut 
was  always  built  upon  an  elevated  mound  of  earth,  and  of 
a  similar  appearance  with  the  temple  itself.  At  sunrise  he 
came  out  to  salute  his  elder  brother  with  three  cries,  for 
which  purpose  his  door  was  open  to  the  east.  After  this- 
salutation  he  called  for  his  calumet,  and  offered  the  three- 
first  whiffs  of  smoke  from  his  tobacco,  then  he  pointed  out 
the  course  which  his  brother  was  to  travel  to  the  west,  and 
thus  concluded  his  morning  service. 

Father  Petit  also  informs  us  that  when  the  Natchez  went 
to  war,  the  head  warriors  carried  their  idols,  which  they 
called  their  spirits,  securely  wrapped  up  in  skins,  and  in 
the  evening  when  they  were  about  to  encamp  they  hung 
those  idols  upon  "a  red  pole,  fixed  in  a  slanting  way,  so 
that  the  idols  should  hang  at  the  side  wfiere  their  enemies- 
lay.  Before  lying  down  the  warriors  danced  singly  before 
them,  each  with  his  tomahawk  bravely  menacing  the  dis- 
tant foe.  The  doctors,  also,  when  they  attended  their  patients 
carried  their  spirits,  as  they  called  them,  in  their  baskets; 
and  made  frequent  invocations  to  them  for  aid  during  their 


272  RELIGION  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

stay  or  their  operations.  Other  conjurers  regulated  the 
weather,  and  some  undertook  to  procure  drought,  whilst 
the  powers  of  others  extended  only  to  rain,  it  being  acknowl- 
edged that  the  same  spirit  or  idol  could  not  procure  both. 
Father  Petit,  who  has  given  this  account  during  his  pri- 
ority at  New  Orleans,  had  previously  spent  a  considerable 
time  amongst  the  Choctaws. 

One  consideration  forces  itself  upon  the  mind.  If  the 
Indians  of  this  continent  had  been  theists,  they  would  have 
been  almost  an  exception  to  those  other  hordes  of  whom 
we  have  any  history,  and  must  have  appeared  so  to  those 
missionaries  who  would  not  have  failed  to  notice  the  dif- 
ference and  to  mention  the  fact ;  but  they,  on  the  con- 
trary, call  them  idolaters,  and  place  them  on  a  level  with 
the  uncivilized  tribes  of  whom  the  Church  had  in  all  ages 
numerous  accounts,  and  who  were  almost  universally  poly- 
theists.  The  history  of  their  Manitous,  and  of  the  grada- 
tions, and  of  the  opposition  of  those  Manitous,  and  of  the 
opposition  supposed  to  exist  between  the  Indian  and  the 
French  Manitous,  is  plainly  exhibited.  The  worship  of  the 
sun  and  of  idols  in  the  temple  of  Natchez  and  in  the 
other  temples  of  that  nation,  all  tend  clearly  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  aboriginal  Indians  of  what  is  now  the 
middle  range  of  our  States,  were  polytheists,  and  as  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  their  religion  was  a  correct  general 
exhibition  of  that  of  their  brethren,  I  think  it  may  be 
fairly  deduced  that  the  religion  of  North  America  was 
polytheism.  Such  also  was  that  of  most  nations  when,  fol- 
lowing their  own  devices,  they  swerved  from  the  ancient 
religion  of  their  progenitors,  which  was  the  worship  of  one 
God,  as  we  have  good  proof,  from  history  and  from  other 
monuments,  to  establish. 


PEN   PICTURES   OF   HOME.1 


I. 

Ox  Thursday,  June  26,  a  public  consistory  was  held  in 
the  ducal  chamber  at  the  Vatican  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
their  hats  to  the  new  cardinals,  viz.,  Tiberi,  Bishop  of 
Jeoci,  in  the  Papal  States,  and  late  Nuncio  in  Spain, 
who  was  created  cardinal  September  30,  1831,  and  reserved 
in  petto;  his  resignation  published  July  2,  1832,  but  who 
had  arrived  in  Kome  only  within  the  previous  week; 
Canali,  Bottiglia,  and  Polidori.  The  four  new  cardinals 
went  to  the  Sistine  Chapel,  at  the  altar  of  which  they 
were  successively  sworn  in  presence  of  the  Cardinal-dean, 
Pacca,  first  of  the  order  of  bishops, — Cardinal  Galleffi, 
Camerlengo  of  the  holy  Roman  Church,  Cardinal  Odescalchi, 
vice-chancellor,  Doria-Pamphilia,  first  cardinal-priest  present, 
Rivarola,  first  cardinal-deacon  present,  Mattei,  Cardinal  Cam- 
erlengo of  the  sacred  college,  and  the  Most  Rev.  Lui 
Frezza,  Archbishop  of  Chalcedon,  secretary  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  consistory  and  of  the  sacred  college. 

The  sala  regia,  or  royal  hall,  of  the  Vatican  palace  is 
a  splendid  room  of  vast  extent,  to  which  you  ascend  by 
the  scala  regia,  or  royal  staircase,  which  is  a  magnificent 
flight  of  steps  between  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  and  the 
Vatican  palace.  As  you  enter  you  have  on  your  right,  at 
one  extremity  of  the  hall,  the  gate  which  leads  into  the 
Pauline  Chapel ;  on  turning  towards  the  left  and  advanc- 
ing about  fifty  or  sixty  feet  into  the  room,  you  have  on 
your  left  the  gate  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  and  on  your 

1  These  sketches  were  written  during  Bishop  England's  second  visit  to  Rome 
to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  tho  Haytian  Legation,  and  appeared  in  1834. 

18  /S7.« 


274  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

right  that  of  the  sala  clucale  or  ducal  hall.  On  entering 
this  hall,  which  is  about  fifty  feet  wide,  it  was  found  that 
the  consistory  was  assembled.  At  the  farther  extremity, 
about  OIIG  hundred  feet  distant,  an  elevated  platform,  to 
which  there  was  an  ascent  of  three  steps,  extended  across- 
the  room ;  at  either  extremity  was  a  large  and  massy 
door,  tastefully  decorated ;  raised  on  the  platform  midway 
between  them,  under  a  canopy  of  crimson  and  gold,  the 
Papal  throne  was  elevated  three  steps  more,  having  on 
each  side  the  flabelli  displayed.  The  Pope  was  clothed  in 
a  rich  cope,  wrearing  a  plain  mitre  of  cloth  of  gold,  with 
his  domestic  prelates,  principal  officers,  civil  and  military, 
and  the  guard  of  nobles  occupying  the  platform  on  each 
side.  In  front,  at  a  moderate  distance,  the  bench  for  car- 
dinals ranged  at  each  side,  and  crossed  nearly  towards  the 
third  part  of  the  hall,  forming  three  sides  of  a  parallelo- 
gram. The  cardinal-dean  sat  at  the  inner  extremity  towards 
the  Pope's  right  hand,  wearing  his  purple  cappa,  with  his 
train-bearers  seated  at  his  feet;  five  other  cardinal-bishops 
sat  on  his  right  in  their  successive  order,  then  the  car- 
dinal-priests according  to  their  seniority;  opposite  the  cardi- 
nal-dean the  third  senior  cardinal-deacon  sat,  at  the  inner 
extremity  of  the  bench,  towards  the  left  of  His  Holiness 
and  his  junior  brethren,  extending  outwards  on  his  left, 
until  the  junior  deacon  was  found  near  the  junior  priest  > 
the  two  senior  deacons  stood  on  either  side  of  the  Pope. 
All  the  cardinals  were  similarly  habited  and  attended.  The 
Prince  Orsini,  the  head  of  the  ancient  Guelph  family  and 
present  senator  of  Rome,  stood  as  prince-assistant  at  the 
throne  on  the  right  of  the  first  cardinal-deacon.  On  your 
right,  as  you  entered  the  room,  a  beautiful  and  convenient 
gallery,  with  open  lattice-work  in  front,  had  been  erected 
for  ladies,  of  whom  there  were  several ;  the  number  that 
might  be  thus  accommodated  would  be  at  least  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  Under  these  galleries,  behind  the  cardinal- 
deacons  and  junior  priests,  there  were  accommodations  for 
prelates  and  distinguished  strangers.  I  observed  in  this 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  275 

place  Captain  Read,  of  the  Constellation  frigate,  and  some 
of  his  officers.  The  space  immediately  next  the  cardinals' 
bench  was  occupied  by  the  Swiss  guard,  drawn  up  in  line 
across  the  hall,  in  their  ancient  costume,  and  having  their 
spears.  The  rest  of  the  room  was  filled  with  monks,  friars, 
officers,  civil  and  military,  priests  and  laymen,  of  all  nations 
and  tongues. 

Silence  was  proclaimed.  Some  of  the  consistorial  advo- 
cates addressed  the  Holy  Father  upon  various  subjects  in 
the  way  of  motions  for  consistorial  decisions.  Amongst 
them  was  one  who  made  the  preliminary  motion  for  pro- 
ceeding to  the  beatification  of  the  venerable  servant  of  God, 
Maria  Clotilda  Xavier,  of  Bourbon,  a  queen  of  Sardinia. 
Eight  cardinals  then  left  the  hall — they  were  the  deacons 
and  junior  priests  —  to  introduce  from  the  Sistine  Chapel 
the  four  cardinals  who  had  just  previously  taken  the  oaths. 
These  four  arrived  in  the  hall,  going  successively  to  the 
throne  and  kissing  the  Pope's  right  foot  and  right  hand, 
after  which  the  Holy  Father  embraced  him.  They  next 
went  to  their  brethren  of  the  sacred  college,  commencing 
with  the  cardinal-dean,  and  were  embraced  by  each  of 
them  successively  in  like  manner.  After  this  each  went  on 
his  knees  before  the  Holy  Father,  who,  with  the  proper 
prayer  and  suitable  admonition,  placed  the  red  hats  on 
their  heads  successively,  gave  his  blessing  and  retired.  The 
cardinals  then  went  to  the  Sistine  Chapel  with  their  newly 
admitted  brethren ;  here  the  Te  Dcum  was  chanted  in  supe- 
rior style,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  the  proper  prayer 
was  said  for  the  new  cardinals,  who  were  again  embraced 
by  their  brethren,  of  whom  only  thirty-one  were  present. 
In  the  evening  each  new  cardinal  visited  St.  Peter's  Church, 
then  the  cardinal-dean,  and  returning  home  had  a  party  of 
his  friends,  and  appeared  in  full  dress.  During  the  assem- 
bly the  keeper  of  the  Pope's  wardrobe  brought  the  hat  in 
state,  and  delivered  it  with  a  suitable  address,  to  which  the 
cardinal  made  an  appropriate  answer.  The  palaces  of  the 
city  were  illuminated. 


276  PEN  PICTCRES  OF  ROME. 

As  a  sort  of  supplement,  I  might  add  that  on  the  same 
afternoon  the  Pope  received  in  the  kindest  manner,  in  his 
gardens,  the  visit  of  Captain  Read,  his  lady,  the  chaplain 
(a  Presbyterian  clergyman),  and  eight  or  ten  officers  of  the 
Constellation  frigate,  amongst  whom  there  was  only  one 
Catholic,  Lieutenant  Francis  Rail,  of  the  marines ;  they 
were  presented  by  Mr.  Cicognani,  the  Consul  of  the  United 
States. 


II. 


The  great  festival  of  the  Apostles  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  was  celebrated  on  Sunday,  June  29,  with  the  usual 
solemnity.  Of  course,  you  are  aware  that  the  celebration 
commences  at  first  vespers ;  the  Church  in  her  celebration 
of  public  offices  following  the  ancient  Judaic  mode  of 
observing  the  ecclesiastical  day,  from  evening  until  evening. 
At  this  point,  therefore,  all  the  great  festivals  commence. 

The  wreather,  at  this  time  of  the  year,  is  nearly  as  warm 
as  in  Charleston,  S.  C.;  the  thermometer  generally  being, 
at  midday,  about  27°  of  Reaumur  or  92°  of  Fahrenheit, 
without  any  sea  breeze.  There  are,  therefore,  very  few 
strangers  in  the  city;  hence,  although  I  should  suppose 
there  were  upwards  of  fifteen  thousand  persons  at  St. 
Peter's,  it  appeared  almost  deserted. 

The  procession  left  that  hall  of  the  Vatican  which  is 
called  the  robing-room  at  about  half  past  five  o'clock.  It 
was  not  very  large.  The  number  of  extraordinary  cham- 
berlains and  chaplains,  together  with  the  other  ecclesiastical 
officers  who  preceded  the  cross,  in  red  sutanes  and  surplices, 
did  not  appear  to  be  over  one  hundred ;  probably  an  equal 
number  of  civil  officers.  The  sub-deacon,  accompanied  by 
his  seven  acolytes,  followed  them ;  behind  him  were  the 
porters  of  the  red  staff.  The  Swiss  guards,  in  their  ordinary 
dress,  now  dotted  the  remainder  of  the  procession  on  either 
side ;  then  followed  the  greater  prelates  under  the  episcopal 
order,  probably  about  forty,  and  the  twelve  penitentiaries 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  277 

of  St.  Peter's  in  red  chasubles.  The  number  of  assistant 
bishops  in  red  copes  and  plain  white  mitres  was  ten,  the 
two  junior  of  whom  were  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Baine,  Bishop 
of  Siga  and  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  western  district  of  Eng- 
land, and  the  Bishop  of  Charleston.  They  were  followed 
by  the  cardinal-deacons,  about  six  in  number,  clothed  in  their 
dalmatics  and  mitred,  having  their  train-bearers  and  other 
attendants.  After  them  came  about  thrice  as  many  cardinal- 
priests,  mitred,  wearing  chasubles,  and  similarly  attended ; 
they  were  followed  by  five  of  the  cardinal-bishops,  mitred, 
wearing  copes,  and  similarly  attended.  The  governor  of 
Rome,  the  Prince  Orsini,  who  is  senator  of  Rome  and 
assistant  at  the  throne,  together  with  the  deputation  from 
the  Roman  magistracy,  surrounded  by  the  general  staff  of  the 
military,  the  guard  of  nobles  .and  the  mace-bearers,  and  a 
special  detachment  of  the  Swiss,  carrying  large  two-handed 
swords,  followed.  In  the  midst  of  this  division  came  the 
Pope,  in  a  cope  and  mitre  of  plain  cloth  of  gold,  having 
on  either  side  the  two  senior  cardinal-deacons  then  in  the 
city,  and  followed  by  the  major-domo,  the  treasurer,  the 
chamberlain,  the  rest  of  the  household,  and  a  number 
of  others. 

As  soon  as  His  Holiness  arrived  in  the  ducal  hall,  he 
was  conducted  to  his  chair,  which  was  immediately  raised 
upon  their  shoulders  by  the  grooms  in  attendance,  and  was 
thus  borne  to  the  altar.  The  procession  continued  to  advance 
through  the  royal  hall,  down  the  scala  regia,  until  it  arrived 
at  the  equestrian  statue  of  Constantino,  which  is  on  your 
left  as  you  descend,  and  about  three-fourths  of  the  space 
down  to  the  ground-floor ;  then,  turning  to  the  right,  it 
descended  by  a  few  steps  into  the  vestibule  of  the  great 
Church  of  St.  Peter.  Here,  the  chapter  of  this  basilica  and 
its  clerks,  .with  the  archpriest,  Cardinal  Galeffi,  at  the  head, 
about  sixty  or  seventy  in  number,  received  the  array, 
allowing  it  to  pass  through  two  lines  formed  facing  inward, 
in  which  the  chapter  and  clergy  stood  arranged,  in  the 
centre  of  the  vestibule  itself;  behind  these  lines,  on  each 


278  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

side,  a  range  of  military  was  formed  in  single  file,  and  tne 
people  crowded  the  rear ;  across  the  middle  of  the  vestibule, 
from  the  great  centre  gate  of  the  church,  towards  that  which 
opens  in  the  porch  to  the  front  of  the  basilica,  the  respectable 
body  of  the  Capitoline  guards,  in  their  fine  uniform,  were 
drawn  up  facing  the  archway  which  opened  from  the  statue 
of  Constantine.  In  the  rear  of  the  battalion,  the  military 
bands  were  stationed  in  front  of  the  civic  guards  or  militia, 
who  were  formed  in  line  of  two  deep  along  the  other  wing 
of  the  vestibule  leading  towards  the  equestrian  statue  of 
Charlemagne,  which,  on  the  south  side  of  the  vestibule, 
corresponds  with  that  of  Constantine  on  the  north. 

As  soon  as  the  head  of  the  procession  entered  this  ves- 
tibule the  bands  commenced  occasional  gratulations.  Arrived 
at  the  great  middle  gate  of  .bronze,  the  procession,  leaving 
the  Capitoline  guards  on  its  left,  turned  to  the  right  into 
the  church.  Here  the  regular  troops  were  drawn  up  in 
single  file,  facing  inwards,  leaving  in  the  centre  a  space 
of  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  wide,  for  the  procession  which 
now  began  to  move  slowly  up  the  centre  towards  the  great 
altar  under  the  dome.  This  mighty  mass  appeared  to  be 
of  solid  gold,  blazing  also  witli  lights  under  its  massive 
twisted  columns  and  great  canopy  of  Corinthian  brass.  The 
numerous  lamps  that  burned  round  the  balustrade  of  the 
confession,  which  shows  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle  several 
feet  below,  seemed,  in  the  distance,  like  the  flowing  of  a 
stream  of  liquid  fire  lambent  about  the  base  of  the  ma- 
jestic altar. 

As  soon  as  the  Holy  Father  turned  into  the  vestibule,  the 
bands  gave  their  full  salute,  the  bells  redoubled  their  enliv- 
ening peal,  and  the  voices  of  the  capitular  choir  repeated, 
in  solemn  chant,  the  declaration  of  the  Saviour,  made 
eighteen  centuries  ago,  to  the  predecessor  of  Gregory  XVI. 
"  Tu  es  Petrus  et  super  hanc  petram  sedificabo  ecclesiam 
meam,  et  portse  inferi  non  prcevalebunt  adversus  cam — Thou 
art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  The 


PE2T  PICTURES  OF  EOME.  279 

Holy  Father,  in  meek,  dignified  humility,  imparted  the 
blessing  as  he  was  borne  along.  A  rich  canopy  was  sus- 
tained by  prelates  over  his  chair,  and  the  flabelli  waved 
majestically  on  either  side.  Over  the  vestibule,  from  a 
window  that  opened  into  the  church,  immediately  above  the 
great  door,  six  trumpets  announceed  the  entrance  of  the 
Holy  Father.  The  troops  presented  arms  as  the  greater 
prelates  who  followed  the  cross  advanced ;  but  when  the 
Father  of  the  faithful  approached,  with  their  arms  still  pre- 
sented, they  bent  a  knee.  The  masters  of  ceremony  were 
stationed  from  place  to  place  along  the  line,  and  as  the 
procession  approached  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  on 
the  right,  about  four  hundred  feet  after  it  had  entered  the 
church,  it  was  arranged  line  within  line  on  either  side 
towards  the  gate  of  this  chapel.  The  chair  was  let  down, 
the  Holy  Father  descended  and  knelt  in  adoration  for  a 
few  moments ;  all  knelt  with  him.  He  rose,  resumed  his 
seat,  the  lines  began  to  extend  forward,  the  procession 
advanced  towards  the  choir  that  was  enclosed  beyond  this 
great  altar.  Your  readers  ought  to  know  that  the  platform 
and  steps  of  this  altar  are  not,  as  is  usual  in  modern 
churches,  towards  the  entrance,  but  have  the  back  of  the 
altar  -itself  towards  the  principal  gate,  as  was  more  usual 
in  the  ancient  edifices.  A  partition  covered  with  crimson 
damask  and  broad  gold  lace,  was  drawn  across  the  centre 
aisle  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beyond  the  altar  to 
its  front,  and,  consequently,  having  the  altar  between  it  and 
the  gate.  Against  this  partition  a  large  platform  was  raised, 
to  which  there  was  an  ascent  of  six  or  eight  steps,  and  upon 
this  platform  was  the  papal  throne,  opposite  the  steps  which 
ascended  to  the  corresponding  platform  of  the  altar.  On 
the  right  the  Prince  Orsini  stood  by  the  throne  itself;  in 
front  of  him,  considerably  towards  the  verge,  the  first  car- 
dinal-bishop sat ;  a  cardinal-deacon  sat  on  either  side  of 
the  throne,  and  on  the  upper  steps  at  either  side  the 
assistant-bishops  stood  or  sat;  below  them,  on  one  side, 
was  the  Roman  magistracy;  on  the  other  the  judges  and 
officers  of  the  chief  civil,  criminal,  and  ecclesiastical  tribu- 


280  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

nals.  Below,  on  either  side,  the  cardinals  were  ranged  on 
elevated  benches,  and  on  lower  ones  at  their  feet  their 
train-bearers  sat.  Nearer  to  the  altar  the  other  members 
of  the  papal  chapel  were  variously  disposed,  and  from  the 
lamps  of  the  confession,  on  either  side  of  the  altar,  back 
to  the  cardinals'  benches,  the  guards  of  nobles  in  close 
single  files  filled  up  the  space  to  prevent  any  intrusion. 
On  benches  behind  the  cardinals  were  archbishops  and 
bishops  not  assistant,  civil  and  military  officers,  the  heads 
of  religious  orders,  foreign  ambassadors,  etc. 

After  the  Pope  was  seated,  the  cardinals,  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  penitentiaries  of  St.  Peter's  went  successively 
to  pay  the  usual  homage,  the  first  by  kissing  his  right 
hand,  the  second  by  kissing  his  right  knee,  and  the  third 
by  kissing  his  right  foot.  After  this,  the  solemn  intona- 
tion of  the  Vespers  was  given  by  the  Holy  Father  and 
continued  by  the  choir.  The  scene  Avas  sublime.  The  sen- 
sations were  deep,  solemn,  and  highly  impressive. 

After  Vespers  the  pallia  were  brought  up  from  the  tomb 
of  the  Apostles,  upon  a  salver  covered  with  rich  silk,  and 
presented  to  the  Pope  to  be  blessed.  Perhaps  your  readers 
do  not  know,  and  would  wish  to  be  informed,  that  a  pal- 
lium is  a  sort  of  woolen  collar  with  five  purple  crosses 
on  it,  which  is  worn  on  solemn  occasions  by  patriarchs, 
archbishops,  and  a  few  privileged  bishops,  and  is  emblem- 
atic of  their  right  of  presidency  in  their  districts.  The 
wool  is  shorn  from  lambs  blessed  on  the  Festival  of  St. 
Agnes  at  her  church  outside  the  city ;  they  are  shorn  at 
a  particular  time,  and  the  wool  is  spun  and  woven  by  the 
nuns  of  a  particular  convent  under  her  invocation;  the  col- 
lars are  then  laid  upon  the  tomb  in  the  confession  of  St. 
Peter,  to  signify  the  connection  of  the  bearer  with  his 
apostolical  authority.  They  are  brought  and  blessed  at  first 
Vespers  on  June  28,  and  replaced  upon  the  tomb  until 
demanded  for  a  new  prelate,  who,  upon  receiving  it,  renews 
his  oath  of  fealty  to  the  Holy  See,  has  it  placed  on  his 
neck,  wears  it  on  solemn  occasions,  and  has  it  buried  with 
him. 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  281 

III. 

Preparations  had  been  made  for  illuminating  the  exterior 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Peter,  as  soon  as  night  should  fall. 
Xo  description  can  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  spectacle 
which  this  presents.  The  dome  is  somewhat  larger  than 
the  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Martyrs,  which  is  the  old 
Pantheon;  and  this  is  not  only  surmounting  the  roof,  but 
raised  considerably  above  it.  This  Pantheon  is  much  larger 
than  the  circular  church  in  Meeting  street.1  Imagine  this 
as  only  one  of  three  domes,  of  which  it  is,  indeed,  far  the 
largest,  elevated  considerably  above  the  roof  of  a  church, 
the  fagade  of  which  is  a  grand  pile  of  architecture ;  this 
dome  is  half  surrounded  by  columns,  and  the  one  by  which 
the  entablature  over  them  is  crowned,  closely  ribbed  to  its 
summit.  Over  this  is  a  ball,  in  which  I  was  one  of  eight 
persons  standing  erect,  and  we  had  room  for  at  least  four 
others,  and  this  ball  is  surmounted  by  a  cross.  From  the 
sides  of  the  front  two  wings  of  splendid  architecture  project 
forward  upwards  of  eighty  feet ;  at  their  extremities  are 
lofty  columns,  over  which  run  the  proper  entablatures 
crowned  by  pediments ;  from  these  enormous  colonnades 
recede  almost  semi-circularly  from  each  wing,  sweeping, 
with  their  hundreds  of  pillars,  round  the  immense  piazza, 
capable  of  containing  probably  one  hundred  thousand  human 
beings  upon  the  area  within  their  embrace.  In  the  centre 
of  this  is  a  rich  Egyptian  obelisk,  resting  upon  the  backs 
of  four  lions,  couchantp  upon  the  angles  of  a  fine  pedestal. 
Half  way  from  this  obelisk,  at  each  side  towards  the 
colonnade,  are  two  magnificent  fountains,  probably  the  most 
superb  in  the  world.  Each  appears  to  be  a  capacious 
marble  vase  elevated  upon  a  sufficiently  strong  but  gracefully 
delicate  stem ;  the  summit  of  this  vase  is  at  the  elevation 
of  about  twelve  feet.  From  its  centre  rises,  to  nearly  the 
same  height,  another  still  more  slender  and  delicately  shaped 

1  A  peculiar  church  building  in  Charleston,  S.  C. 


"282  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

stem,  from  whose  summit  is  projected,  to  a  considerable 
height,  a  water-spout  which,  gracefully  bending  near  its  ( 
summit  and  yielding  to  the  direction  of  the  wind,  as  it 
forms  its  curve  and  descent,  is  separated  into  a  sort  of 
sparkling  spray  of  pearls  and  silver  intermixed.  About 
twelve  other  spouts  shoot  round  this  central  liquid  column, 
•diverging  from  it  on  every  side  as  they  rise,  and  falling, 
with  a  similar  appearance,  at  somewhat  of  a  less  elevation. 
They  seem,  in  the  distance,  to  be  like  rich  plumes  of  some 
gigantic  ostrich  waving  gracefully  in  the  breeze,  whilst  the 
descending  shower  is  received  in  the  capacious  vase,  from 
whose  interior  it  is  conducted  to  various  fountains  in  the 
city.  Hundreds  of  statues  lift  their  various  forms,  appearing 
larger  than  life,  over  the  frieze  and  cornice  of  the  colonnade ; 
whilst  at  the  foot  of  the  majestic  flight  of  steps  by  which 
you  ascend  to  the  portico  of  the  church,  two  ancient  statues 
•of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  have  for  centuries  rested  upon 
their  pedestals.  The  facade  of  the  church  itself  is  sur- 
mounted by  the  colossal  statues  of  the  twelve  Apostles. 

The  illumination  consisted  of  two  parts.  The  lamps  for 
the  first  part  were  disposed  closely,  in  colored  paper,  along 
the  architectural  lines  of  this  mighty  mass,  about  the  ribs 
of  the  domes,  around  the  ball,  and  on  the  cross. 

To  me,  as  I  looked  from  the  bridge  of  St.  Angelo,  the 
scene  appeared  like  a  vision  of  enchantment.  It  seemed 
as  if  a  mighty  pile  of  some  rich,  black,  soft  material  was 
reared  in  the  likeness  of  a  stupendous  temple,  and  the 
•decorations  were  broad  lines  of  burning  liquid  gold.  The 
ball  and  the  cross  were  seen  as  if  detached  and  resting  in 
the  air  above  its  summit.  It  was  indeed  a  becoming  emblem 
of  the  triumph  of  a  crucified  Redeemer  over  this  terrestrial 
ball.  After  I  had  passed  the  bridge  and  as  I  approached 
the  piazza,  the  front  of  the  church  and  the  expanse  of  the 
colonnade  exhibited  their  lines  of  light.  The  specks  which 
formed  those  lines  glowed  now  more  distinct  and  separate, 
and  though  their  continuity  was  lost,  their  symmetry  was 
perfect  and  magnificent.  The  immense  piazza  was  thronged 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  283 

with  carriages  and  persons  on  foot,  whilst  a  division  of 
the  Papal  dragoons,  one  of  the  finest  and  best  disciplined 
bodies  of  cavalry  in  existence,  moved  in  sections  and  single 
files  through  the  multitude,  calmly,  but  steadily  and  firmly, 
preserving  order.  Scarcely  a  word  is  heard  above  a  whisper ; 
iin  accident  is  of  so  rare  an  occurrence  as  not  to  be 
calculated  upon.  The  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State  has  a 
gallery  in  front  of  the  church,  to  which  foreign  ambassadors 
and  a  fow  other  strangers  of  distinction  are  invited.  I 
observed  Captain  Read  and  his  wife  in  this  gallery,  and 
many  of  our  officers  were  promenading  below. 

About  an  hour  elapsed  from  the  commencement,  when 
the  motion  of  a  brighter  light  was  observed  towards  the 
summit  of  the  cupola,  a  large  star  seemed  to  shoot  upwards 
to  the  cross,  asd,  as  if  by  a  sudden  flash  from  heaven, 
the  whole  edifice  appeared  to  blaze  in  the  glare  of  day. 
A  thousand  lights,  kindled  by  some  inconceivably  rapid 
communication,  shed  their  beams  upon  every  part  of  the 
building.  Pillars  and  pilasters,  with  their  vases,  shafts,  ami 
capitals ;  mouldings,  friezes,  cornices,  pediments,  architraves, 
pannels,  doors,  windows,  niches,  images,  decorations,  enrich- 
ments, domes — all,  with  their  faint  lines  of  golden  light, 
now  softened  to  a  milder  lustre,  were  revealed  in  brilliant 
relief  to  the  enraptured  eye.  The  fountains  were  magnifi- 
cently grand,  and  richly  pure,  and  softened  into  a  refresh- 
ing white.  The  multitude  was  silent.  The  horses  wrere  still. 
The  glowing  cross,  elevated  above  the  Vatican  hill,  beamed 
to  the  wide  plains  and  distant  mountains  its  augury  of  future 
glory  because  of  past  humiliation.  The  crowd  began  to  move, 
a  low  buzz  of  conversation  began,  and  then  the  horses' 
tramp,  followed  by  the  rattling  of  wheels.  And  whilst  tens 
of  thousands  remained  yet  longer,  other  thousands  moved 
in  various  directions  to  their  homes,  or  to  distant  elevated 
points  for  the  sake  of  a  variety  of  views. 

I    went    to    the    magnificent    Piazza    del    Popolo.     It   was 

,  literally   a   desert ;    but    in    its    stillness,    and    the    dereliction 

of    its    obelisk,    its    fountains,    and    its    statues,    by   the   very 


284  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

contrast   to   the   scene   that   I   had   left,  there   arose  a  feeling: 

*  O 

of  new  sublimity.  It  was  more  deep — it  was  more  solemn, 
but  it  was  less  elevated ;  not  so  overpowering,  nor  so  im- 
pressive as  to  that  which  it  succeeded.  My  object  was  to 
ascend  from  this  place  to  the  Monte  Pincio ;  the  command- 
ing view  from  which  would  enable  me  to  look  over  the 
city  at  the  great  object  which  attracted  every  eye.  But  the 
gates  of  the  avenue  at  this  side  were  closed,  and  I  had 
to  go  to  the  Piazza  di  Spagna,  and  there  to  ascend  by 
the  immense  and  beautiful  flight  of  steps  to  the  Trinita 
dei  Monti.  Standing  here  in  front  of  the  Convent  of  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  view  of  St.  Peter's  was 
indeed  superb.  I  proceeded  up  towards  the  public  gardens 
lately  formed  on  the  summit  of  this  ancient  residence  of 
so  many  of  the  remarkable  men  of  five-and-twenty  ages. 
At  various  intervals  I  stopped  and  turned  to  view  the 
altered  appearance  presented  by  the  mass  of  light  as  seen 
from  those  different  positions.  As  I  contemplated  it  I 
reflected  that  it  must  soon  be  extinguished  like  the  transient 
glories  of  the  philosophers,  the  heroes,  the  statesmen,  the 
orators  who  successively  passed  over  the  spot  on  which  I 
stood.  A  humble  fisherman  from  Galilee,  and  an  obscure 
tent-maker  from  Tarsus,  were  confined  in  the  dungeons  of  this 
city.  Seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-eight  years  had  passed 
away  since  one  of  them  was  crucified  with  his  head  down- 
wards, on  the  Vatican  Hill,  and  the  other  was  beheaded  near 
the  Ostian  AVay.  They  had  been  zealously  faithful  in  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  their  apostleship.  In  the  eyes  of 
men  their  death  was  without  honor,  but  it  was  precious  in 
the  sight  of  God.  Grateful  and  admiring  millions  from 
year  to  year  proclaim  their  praises,  whilst  the  Church 
exhibits  their  virtues  as  proofs  of  the  power  of  the  Saviour's 
grace,  as  models  for  the  imitation  of  her  sons.  Oh !  let 
my  soul  die  the  death  of  the  just,  and  let  my  last  end 
be  like  to  theirs!  Translated  from  this  earth  —  they  live 
in  heaven.  Tried  for  a  time  and  found  faithful,  they  enjoy 
a  glorious  recompense.  The  God  that  we  serve  is  merciful 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  285 

iu  bestowing  His  grace,  and  is  exceedingly  bountiful  in 
crowning  His  own  gifts,  by  giving  to  us  through  the  merits 
of  His  Son  a  recompense  for  those  acts  of  virtue  which 
He  enables  us  to  perform. 

I  found  myself  again  near  the  summit  of  the  steps  — 
I  descended  and  retired  to  my  home  reflecting  upon  the 
wonders  wrought  by  the  Most  High  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  those  two  great  saints,  the  celebration  of  whose 
festival  had  thus  commenced.  The  ardent  Peter  and  the 
active  Paul !  The  name  changed  to  signify  the  office  to 
which  he  should  be  raised.  The  Vicegerent  of  heaven's 
King — bearing  the  mystic  keys  with  powers  of  legislation  and 
of  administration, — Whatever  thou  shall  bind  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  heaven,  whatsoever  thou  shall  loose  on  earth 
shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven.  Yes  ! — upon  this  rock  was 
the  Church  of  the  Saviour  built.  Its  principal  weight  of 
administration  rested  upon  him,  -who  of  himself  was  weak, 
but  who,  converted  and  sustained  by  Christ,  was  strong. 
"  Before  the  cock  shall  crow  twice  this  night,  thou  shall 
thrice  deny  Me.  Yes!  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  thee  that 
he  might  sift  thee  as  wheat ;  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee 
that  thy  faith  fail  not.  And  thou  once  converted,  confirm 
thy  brethren ! "  The  strongest  power  that  hell  can  muster 
in  its  gates,  to  make  a  furious  assault  upon  that  Church, 
the  weighty  administration  of  which  shall  rest  upon  you, 
and  upon  those  that  shall  succeed  you,  shall  from  time  to 
time  be  marshaled  and  sent  forth  for  the  destruction  of 
that  body  which  the  Saviour  organized  like  a  well-ordered 
kingdom  upon  earth  for  the  attainment  of  heaven ;  but  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it !  The  dynasties 
of  nations  have  perished — the  palaces  of  the  Caesars  are  in 
ruins — their  tombs  have  mouldered  with  the  bodies  they 
contained,  but  the  successors  of  Peter  continue.  Under  the 
orders  of  Nero,  the  two  Apostles  were  consigned  to  what 
was  imagined  to  be  destruction.  The  vaults  of  the  tyrant's 
golden  palace  are  covered  with  vegetation.  Standing  on  the 
unseemly  ruins  of  the  remnant  of  this  monster's  monument, 


286  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

by  the  side  of  the  Flaminian  way,  through  the  obscurity 
of  the  night,  the  Christian  peasant  looks  towards  that  blaze 
of  light,  which,  from  the  resting-place  where  the  relics  of 
the  head  of  the  Church  and  of  the  doctor  of  the  Gentiles 
are  found,  breaks  forth  and  irradiates  the  eternal  city  and 
its  monumental  environs. 

If  Peter  is  elevated  in  station,  Paul  is  not  less  glorious 
in  merit.  He,  too,  looked  back  with  sorrow  on  that  day 
when  he  held  the  clothes  of  those  who  slew  Stephen.  But 
how  nobly  did  he  redeem  his  error.  A  vessel  of  election 
to  bear  the  good  odor  of  Christ  into  the  palaces  of  kings 
— a  torrent  of  eloquence  flowing  into  the  barren  fields  of 
a  vain  philosophy  to  fertilize  and  adorn — a  rich  exhibition 
of  virtue,  winning  by  its  beauty,  attracting  by  its  symmetry, 
and  exciting  to  activity  by  emulation — a  glowing  meteor  of 
benediction,  dissipating  the  clouds  of  error,  shedding  the 
lustre  of  truth  around,  and  warming  the  hearts  of  the 
beholders  to  charity  on  earth,  that  they  might  be  fitted  for 
glory  in  heaven. 

IV. 

On  June  30  a  chapel  of  the  bishops  assistant  at  the 
throne  was  held  at  the  Church  of  St.  Paul,  on  the  Ostian 
road.  This  is  the  great  basilica  which  was  consumed  by 
fire  about  eleven  years  ago.  In  this  conflagration  the  grand 
altar  and  the  place  where  the  relics  of  the  Apostles  repose 
escaped.  Hundreds  of  workmen  continue  to  be  employed 
in  the  restoration  of  this  fine  church,  and  considerable 
progress  has  been  made.  The  transept  is  covered  in,  the 
columns  of  the  aisles  are  erected,  and  most  of  them  have 
their  capitals  mounted.  The  shafts  are  a  beautiful  iron 
gray  granite,  each  shaft  one  piece  of  upwards  of  twenty  feet 
in  height,  and  the  cap  a  fine  white  marble,  Corinthian  or 
composite,  each  in  two  blocks ;  very  few  are  Ionic.  The 
aisles  of  this  church  are  new  as  far  as  the  transept.  «  The 
floor  is  to  be  raised  three  feet  above  its  old  level,  as  on 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  287 

some  former  occasions  the  Tiber  rose  to  such  a  height  a& 
to  overflow  it.  Probably  twenty  years  more,  at  least,  must 
pass  away  before  this  church  can  be  used,  though  probably 
five  hundred  men  are  continually  employed  upon  it.  The 
offices  are  at  present  performed  in  three  chapels — the  old 
sacristies,  each  of  which  would  make  a  moderate  sized. 
American  church. 

On  this  day  also  two  of  the  cardinal-bishops  consecrated 
each  two  of  the  newly-appointed  bishops  just  nominated. 
But  on  the  subsequent  Sunday  I  was  present  at  a  cere- 
mony which  to  me  was  quite  new — the  consecration  of  a. 
Catholic  Bishop  according  to  the  Greek  rite.  It  took  place 
in  the  Greek  Church,  on  the  Via  del  Babuino,  and  was 
rather  thinly  attended,  as  it  was  not  generally  known.  I 
do  not  believe  that  there  were  five  hundred  persons  in 
the  church.  The  prelate  consecrated  was  Gabriel  Smicsiti- 
laszbi  Crisio ;  the  consecrating  prelate  was  the  Most  Rev- 
erend Basil  Tomaggiani,  a  native  of  Pera,  Constantinople,, 
born  in  the  year  1762,  a  minor  conventual  friar  and 
Archbishop  of  Durazzo — who  for  a  number  of  years  has 
resided  in  this  city  for  the  purpose  of  performing  the 
episcopal  functions  of  the  Greek  rite.  He  was  assisted  by 
two  Latin  doctors,  Lewis  Cardelli,  a  minor  reformed  friar, 
Archbishop  of  Acrida  in  partibus,  and  Lewis  Grati,  a 
Servite  (formerly  Archbishop  of  Smyrna,  which  he  resigned)' 
friar,  Bishop  of  Gallimicio  in  partibus.  The  deacon  was 
the  same  that  sung  the  Gospel  in  Greek,  at  St.  Peter's,, 
at  the  Papal  High  Mass  on  the  Festival  of  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  and  the  sub-deacon  was  from  the  Propaganda.  Sev- 
eral other  students  from  this  college  also  attended  to  sing 
the  other  parts  of  the  service  according  to  their  rite.  An 
American  bishop  and  an  American  priest  in  plain  official 
dress,  not  vestments,  and  a  few  other  clergymen  of  various 
orders  were  permitted  to  go  within  the  partition  which 
separates  the  Greek  altars  from  the  congregation.  Small  as 
the  number  present  was,  the  persons  composing  it  were  col- 
lected from  many  nations,  and  though  all  of  one  faith, 
yet  followed  several  rites. 


288  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

The  ceremony  as  regards  vesture,  instruments,  and  form, 
was  far  more  simple  than  the  Latin  rite.  The  consecrating 
prelate  only  laid  one  hand  on  the  head  of  the  person 
consecrated,  the  assisting  prelate  holding  the  book  of  the 
Gospels  on  his  shoulders  during  the  imposition.  The  cro- 
sier is  altogether  of  a  different  form  from  that  used  by 
the  Latins.  It  is  shorter,  more  slender,  and  in  place  of  a 
crook  has  a  double  curve,  as  if  two  serpents  had  their 
tails  inserted  in  the  top  of  the  shaft  and  their  bodies 
stretched  horizontally  in  opposite  directions  for  about  six 
inches  each,  after  which  they  turn  upwards  bending  their 
heads  towards  each  other  so  as  to  approach  within  about 
a  couple  of  inches.  This  is  given  to  the  person  to  be 
consecrated,  when  he  is  made  a  doctor,  immediately  after 
his  profession  of  faith  and  oath  of  fealty  previous  to  the 
Mass.  No  unction  of  either  the  head  or  hand  is  used, 
nor  is  any  mitre  placed  on  his  head.  He,  on  the  proper 
occasion  after  his  consecration,  takes  the  Greek  mitre, 
\vhich  is  very  different  in  its  shape  from  that  of  the 
Latins,  being  in  fact  a  crown.  Upon  the  whole  the  cere- 
mony was  very  interesting,  though  by  no  means  so  solemn 
or  imposing  as  that  of  the  Latins.  On  the  same  day 
(July  6)  Cardinal  Odescalchi,  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Church  and  Bishop  of  Sabina,  went  in  state  to  the 
Church  of  St.  Andrew  on  the  Quirinal  hill,  the  novitiate 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  consecrated  Francis  Strani,  Bishop  of 
the  diocese  of  Massa  di  Carrara;  the  assistants  were  the 
Most  Reverend  John  Soglia,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus,  and 
the  Most  Reverend  Constantino  Patozzi,  Archbishop  of 
Philippi  and  major-domo  to  His  Holiness. 

All  the  Italian  bishops  are  consecrated  in  this  city  by 
cardinals,  though  the  pontifical  directs  that  as  far  as  possible 
the  bishop  should  be  consecrated  in  the  midst  of  his  own 
people  in  the  church  to  which  he  is  promoted.  The  custom 
here  originated  in  the  practice,  very  properly  established, 
of  having  the  bishops  elect  of  these  countries  examined  in 
theology  and  canon  law  and  certified  as  perfect  in  their 


PEN  PICTURES   OF  ROME.  289 

knowledge  of  both,  by  a  very  respectable  congregation  of 
cardinals,  prelates,  theologians  and  jurists,  previous  to  their 
being  approved  and  nominated  by  His  Holiness  in  the 
consistory.  I  recollect  that  one  of  the  most  learned  of  this 
body  of  examiners,  the  present  Bishop  of  Orvietto,  having 
been  appointed  by  the  Pope,  from  his  personal  knowledge 
of  his  learning  and  merit,  could  not  obtain  the  necessary 
certificate  from  his  brother  examiners,  without  undergoing 
a  very  rigorous  and  searching  trial.  When  thus  in  the  holy 
city,  and  examined,  approved  and  named,  they  generally 
preferred  being  consecrated  by  a  cardinal-bishop,  and  the 
custom  is  now  grown  into  a  law.  I  must  acknowledge  that 
I  prefer  the  discipline  laid  down  in  the  pontifical. 

As  your  readers  might  wish  to  see  a  list  of  this  congrega- 
tion, and  thus  have  an  idea  of  the  constitution  of  those 
committees  of  business,  I  shall  give  you  a  list  of  the  present 
congregation  for  the  examination  of  bishops  elect. 

Examiners  in    Theology. 

CARDINALS:  1.  Pacca.  2.  Zurla.  3.  Micara.  4.  Lam- 
bruschini.  5.  Marco-y-Catalan. 

FATHERS  :  6.  Master  Dominic  Buttaoni,  a  Dominican  friar, 
Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace.  7.  Master  Thomas  Antonino 
Degola,  of  the  same  order,  Secretary  of  the  Index.  8. 
John  da  Capistrano,  ex-General  Minister  of  the  Reformed 
Minor  Observantine  Friars.  9.  Lewis  Togni,  Prefect-General 
of  the  Fathers  Infirmarians  for  the  Charitable  Care  of  the 
Sick.  10.  Laurence  da  Camerata,  of  the  Order  of  Friars 
Capuchins,  Apostolic  Preacher  for  the  Papal  Household. 
11.  The  Abbate  Paul  del  Signore,  a  Canon  Regular  of  St. 
Saviour's  of  Lateran.  12.  John  Roothan,  General  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  13.  The  Abbate  Don  Ambrose  Bianchi, 
Vicar-General  of  the  Benedictine  Congregation  of  Camaldoli. 
14.  Cherubino  da  Arienzo,  of  the  Order  of  Friars  Minors, 
Observantines.  15.  Master  Laurence  Tardi,  Vicar-General 

19 


290  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

of  the  Order  of  Hermits  of  St.  Augustine.     16.  Don  Emilio 
Jacopini,   of  the    Order   of  Regular   Minor   Clerks. 

Examiners   in    Canon   Law. 

CARDINALS:  1.  Galleffi.  2.  De  Gregorio.  3.  Falzacappa. 
4.  Odescalchi.  5.  Fransoni.  6.  Sala. 

MOST  REVEREND:  7.  Joseph  della  Porta  Ronciglione, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  8.  Francis  Canali,  lately  cre- 
ated cardinal,  Archbishop  of  Larissa.  9.  John  Soglia,  Arch- 
bishop of  Ephesus. 

THE  PRELATES  :  Rev.  Jerome  Bontadosi,  auditor  (or 
assessor)  of  His  Holiness.  Silvester  Bargagnati,  one  of  the 
clerks  of  the  chamber  (Court  of  Appeals).  Rev.  Joseph 
Mezzofanti,  First  Keeper  of  the  Vatican  Library,  of  whom 
Lord  Byron  had  so  high  an  opinion ;  probably  one  of  the 
first  linguists  in  existence ;  he  speaks  with  facility  thirty- 
four  living  languages,  and  several  of  the  dead  tongues. 

SECRETARY:  The  Most  Rev.  Joseph  Vespigniani,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tyana. 

"When  I  contemplated  one  of  those  congregations,  as-d 
after  taking  each  individual  separately  and  considering  his 
erudition  and  respectability  upon  a  variety  of  other  grounds, 
and  then  viewed  the  aggregate  of  their  merits;  how  did  I 
pity  the  little  beings  who,  without  knowing  one  particle  of 
the  mode  in  which  business  is  done  here  or  concerning 
the  character  or  qualifications  of  the  councilors  of  the 
Holy  Father,  write  and  speak  of  mankind,  ignorance,  the 
dark  ages,  the  mariner's  compass,  the  art  of  printing,  the 
feudal  times — Martin  Luther,  Henry  VIII,  Anne  Boleyn,  &c. 

By  the  bye,  as  we  have  touched  this  chord — I  amused 
some  of  our  Americans,  whilst  they  were  in  this  city  about 
three  weeks  since,  by  taking  them  to  Monsignor  Mezzofanti, 
with  whom  I  have  the  happiness  of  an  intimate  acquaintance, 
and  procuring  from  him  one  of  the  pieces  in  his  archives, 
an  antograph  love  letter  of  the  gallant  monarch  to  Miss 
Anne.  It  is  written  in  French,  and  not  easily  legible  at 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  291 

the  first  inspection;  in  the  flourish  to  his  signature  is  a  heart 
in  the  midst  of  which,  upon  examination,  you  find  the  initials 
of  the  lady's  name,  A.  This  letter  is  pasted  on  the  leaf  of 
a  book  which  contains  a  copy  of  the  piece  in  a  more  modern 
and  legible  hand,  by  the  aid  of  which  the  original  is  easily 
deciphered.  Some  ladies  who  joined  the  American  party 
examined  it  with  considerable  minuteness.  His  majesty  did 
not  seem*  to  be  in  the  beheading  humor  when  it  was  written. 
The  learned  keeper  produced  another  piece  of  whose  authen- 
ticity there  could  be  no  question :  the  copy  of  Henry's  work 
in  defence  of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  of  the  seven  sacraments, 
against  Martin  Luther,  which  work  procured  for  his  majesty 
so  many  polite  compliments  from  the  sainted  reformers  and 
for  him  and  his  successors  from  the  Holy  See  the  title  of 
"Defender  of  the  Faith" — .which  title  those  successors  have 
with  such  admirably  good  taste  preserved,  whilst  they  robbed, 
whipped,  banished,  hanged,  quartered,  embowelled,  and 
beheaded  their  beloved  subjects  for  believing  as  his  majesty 
then  wrote !  The  dedication  of  this  work  to  His  Holiness 
was  subscribed  by  his  majesty  with  his  own  royal  hand, 
and-  the  work  has  been  preserved  ever  since  with  care 
in  the  archives  of  the  holy  city.  Monsignor  Mezzofanti 
requested  of  the  ladies  to  compare  the  signatures,  which 
were  palpably  the  work  of  the  same  hand.  He  was  requested 
by  them  very  naturally  to  give  the  history  of  the  way  in 
which  the  lady's  letter  came  into  the  Vatican,  which  he  did 
to  our  satisfaction ;  but  as  I  am  so  stupid,  the  chain  of 
succession  has  got  entangled  in  my  memory,  and  I  shall  not 
just  now  venture  to  guess.  Probably,  if  nothing  more 
important  banishes  the  determination,  1  shall  ask  my  friend 
for  the  history,  when  next  we  meet,  and  shall  try  to  recollect 
it  for  you  then. 

V. 

This  is  the  period  when  the  examinations  are  made  in 
all  the  schools  and  colleges  in  the  city.  I  do  not  know 
exactly  the  number  of  students,  but  I  am  perhaps  consid- 


292  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

erably  under  the  mark  in  saying  they  are  something  over 
two  thousand.  On  Thursday,  July  17,  I  attended  at  the 
defence  of  his  theses,  by  an  American  student  at  the  Urban 
College,  generally  known  as  that  of  the  Propaganda.  The 
number  of  young  men  in  this  institution  is  over  one 
hundred. 

The  process  is  generally  as  follows :  During  the  private 
examinations  at  the  several  periods  of  the  year,  •  by  the 
professors  of  the  college  itself,  and  also  at  that  towards 
the  end  of  the  academical  season,  by  others  as  well  as  by  the 
professors  of  the  house,  one  or  more  of  the  best  pupils 
are  selected  to  defend  the  theses.  A  thesis,  as  your  read- 
ers are  aware,  is  a  position  or  stated  proposition.  Several 
of  these  are  selected  from  the  scientific  course,  which  the 
student  publishes  and  declares  that  he  will  be  ready,  at  a 
fixed  time  and  place,  to  defend  against  all  opponents.  The 
lists  are  regularly  prepared  for  this  scholastic  knight,  who 
appears  duly  sustained  to  exhibit  his  powers ;  nor  is  this 
tournament  a  mere  idle  display,  in  the  rivalry  of  the 
schools ;  there  are  often  formidable  encounters  and  numer- 
ous spectators,  and  not  unfrequently  serious  disasters.  There 
is  a  formidable  Jesuit  here,  a  professor  of  dogmatic  the- 
ology at  the  Roman  College,  who  has  lately  swept,  in  a 
comparatively  short  encounter,  half  a  dozen  of  those  youth- 
ful aspirants  from  the  field  of  fame ;  and  their  teachers 
were  neither  insensible  nor  inactive  on  and  after  the 
encounter.  The  effects  of  this  carnage  are  not  yet  at  an 
end ;  gauntlet  after  gauntlet  is  flung  down,  and  the  Budges 
of  such  feats  are  in  continual  requisition 

On  the  present  occasion,  Martin  John  Spalding,1  a  Ken- 
tuckian  and  the  senior  student  of  the  United  States  of 
North  America,  a  pupil  of  the  Urban  College,  published  a 
respectful  and  manly  Latin  address  to  the  congregation  of 
cardinals  presiding  over  the  affairs  of  the  Propaganda,  in 
which,  after  wishing  their  eminences  happiness  and  health, 

i  Since  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  and  now  dead. 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  293 

he  informs  them  of  what  he  considers  the  blessings  diffused 
by  their  institution,  for  which  they  deserve  thanks.  As  he 
has  finished  the  usual  course  of  studies,  he  has  determined 
to  express  publicly  his  gratitude  by  sustaining  his  theses, 
expressing  the  doctrines  which  he  shall  endeavor  to  teach 
in  those  distant  regions  to  which  he  is  about  to  return. 
For  this  purpose  he  will  appear,  God  willing,  in  the  morn- 
ing, in  the  great  hall  of  the  college,  when  and  where  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  any  one  who  thinks  proper  to  contro- 
vert what  he  undertakes  to  defend.  In  the  afternoon  he 
will  appear  in  the  college  chapel,  where  three  select  cham- 
pions will  successively  make  their  assaults,  after  which  he 
will  be  ready  to  meet  any  other  that  might  be  disposed 
to  try  his  strength. 

Then  follows  a  list  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  propo- 
sitions which  he  undertakes  to  defend.  They  are  drawn 
from  the  several  treatises  of  theology  and  canon  law ;  copies 
of  this  were  sent  to  the  other  colleges,  and  special  invi- 
tations were  given  to  several  individuals  whose  attendance 
was  particularly  desirable. 

About  half  past  eight  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning  I 
arrived  at  the  gate  of  the  college,  on  the  pavement  in  front 
of  which  was  a  profuse  scattering  of  sweet-smelling  green 
leaves ;  the  bay  and  myrtle  predominated.  The  gate  itself 
was  open,  and  this  fragrant  path  marked  the  way  to  the 
interior.  The  strewing  continued  up  the  great  staircase, 
along  the  open  gallery  of  the  first  floor,  to  the  great  door 
leading  to  the  principal  corridor,  along  this  passage  to  the 
gate  of  the  principal  hall.  This  room,  about  eighty  feet 
in  length  by  forty  wide  and  twenty  in  height,  has  its 
walls  decorated  with  paintings  of  students  of  this  college, 
under  the  inflictions  of  the  deadly  pain  by  which  they  were 
in  remote  regions  martyred  for  their  discharge  of  duty ; 
thus  exhibiting  to  the  youth  who  are  therein  educated  the 
constancy  which  the  Church  expects  from  them  under  simi- 
lar circumstances.  At  the  further  extremity,  opposite  the 
door,  was  a  carpeted  platform  elevated  two  steps.  Upon 


294  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

this  the  young  Kentuckian  was  seated,  with  a  small  table 
before  him,  having  also  next  to  him  on  one  side  his  pro- 
fessor of  theology,  a  Roman,  and  on  the  other  his  professor 
of  law,  a  Bavarian  count,  who  is  a  priest  and  rector  of 
the  college.  The  renowned  scholar,  Angelo  Mai,  presided, 
being  seated  on  your  right,  as  you  entered  the  hall  near 
this  platform..  A  range  of  chairs  extended  on  either  side, 
leaving  a  passage  of  about  ten  feet  wide  in  the  centre, 
from  the  door  to  the  platform.  These  chairs  were  intended 
for  cardinals,  bishops,  or  other  prelates  and  professors  who 
might  arrive.  Ranges  of  benches  parallel  to  these,  on  each 
side,  behind,  were  pretty  generally  thronged  by  students  of 
that  and  of  other  colleges  and  by  many  strangers.  No  car- 
dinal was  present  in  the  forenoon ;  the  Bishop  of  Charles- 
ton was  the  only  prelate  of  the  episcopal  order.  But 
several  others  of  various  grades,  secular  and  regular,  amongst 
whom  were  the  rectors  and  professors  of  various  colleges, 
occupied  most  of  the  chairs. 

The  first  argument  had  been  concluded  when  I  arrived; 
it  was  conducted  by  an  Italian  secular  priest,  whose  name 
I  could  not  learn.  The  second  was  made  by  a  Dominican 
friar,  a  man  of  very  great  talent  and  ingenuity;  he  had 
also  nearly  concluded.  An  infirmarian,  or.  crutched  friar, 
conducted  the  third  with  considerable  spirit  and  ability. 
By  the  bye,  you  should  in  America  say,  that  what  I  call  a 
crutched  friar,  is  in  Italy  called  a  crucifero,  or  "  cross-bearer." 
He  wears  a  red  cross  on  the  right  breast  of  a  black  habit, 
and  his  obligation  is  to  spend  his  time  in  attending  the  sick, 
especially  in  infirmaries.  Hence  I  call  him  an  infirmarian. 
This  invaluable  order  of  devoted  men  was  founded  by  St. 
Camillo  of  Lellis.  Next  succeeded  an  Irishman,  a  student 
of  the  Roman  Seminary,  who  did  argue  most  lustily  against 
the  real  presence  and  sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  The  next  was 
a  German  Jesuit,  well  known  in  the  United  States,  Father 
Kohlman,  who  for  nearly  half  an  hour  argued  eloquently 
against  the  primacy  of  the  Holy  See.  He  was  followed 
by  Signor  Rosa,  one  of  the  minutanti,  and  a  professor  of 
theology,  who  argued  against  the  power  of  remitting  all  sins 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  295 

in  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.  Dr.  Wiseman,1  Rector  of  the 
English  College,  next  argued  for  the  figurative  meaning  of 
the  words  of  our  Saviour,  in  the  institution  of  the  Eucharist, 
introducing  various  analagous  passages  from  Persian,  Arabic, 
and  other  Asiatic  writers,  some  of  which  are  pompously 
brought  forward  in  the  preface  to  ponderous  tomes  of 
polyglots,  by  an  Oxford  doctor  of  modern  celebrity.  The 
celebrated  Monsignor  Mezzofanti  then  followed  with  con- 
siderable subtlety  and  acutencss,  when  the  great  bell 
announced  midday. 

The  young  American  had  now  been  upwards  of  four  hours 
sharply  engaged  in  scholastic  disputation,  in  tne  Latin  lan- 
guage, with  men  of  various  nations  and  of  no  ordinary 
calibre,  and  had  not  failed  or  hesitated  in  a  single  answer. 

To  a  stranger  the  style  of  this  mode  of  disputation  is 
altogether  a  novelty.  You  are  carried  back  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  argument  to  all  the  pompous  style  of  ancient 
heraldry  and  regulated  courtesy  of  disputation.  The  dis- 
putant generally  commences  by  a  high  wrought  compliment 
to  the  institution,  to  its  various  officers,  to  the  particular 
professor  of  the  science  in  which  he  is  to  make  his  assault, 
to  the  genius  and  erudition  of  the  defender;  then  speaks  of 
his  own  defects,  how  reluctant  he  is  to  couch  a  lance  against 
so  powerful  an  opponent,  but  if  he  makes  a  pass  or  two', 
it  is  not  in  the  vain  hope  of  a  victory  for  which  there  is 
no  chance,  but  that  taught  by  the  prowess  he  will  elicit,  he 
may  improve.  He  then  commences  his  attack  and  presses 
on,  generally  with  great  vigor.  The  defender  in  turn  pro- 
fesses the  high  estimation  in  which  he  holds  his  opponent; 
introducing  in  his  description  an  enumeration  of  the  offices 
he  has  held,  the  honors  he  has  obtained,  and  the  great 
qualities  for  which  he  is  remarkable.  Then  he  briefly 
recapitulates  the  argument,  dissects  it,  and  takes  its  separate 
parts  for  successive  examination,  and  after  having  thus 
disposed  of  it,  he  says  that  he  is  inclined  to  think  it  not 
so  strong  as  at  first  supposed., 

1  Sin^e  CarJiral,  and  now  dead. 


296  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

There  was  a  recess  for  rest,  dinner,  and  preparation  for 
the  afternoon.  But  on  this  occasion  the  assembly  was  more 
solemn.  The  disposition  of  the  church  was  similar  to  that 
of  the  hall.  The  ecclesiastical  dresses,  however,  were  for 
cardinals,  bishops,  and  other  prelates,  what  were  called 
robes  of  the  second  class ;  the  cardinals  in  red,  the  bishops 
in  purple,  and  such  of  the  other  prelates  as  were  entitled 
to  it  in  the  same  color.  The  cardinals,  of  whom  only  seven 
were  present,  sat  on  very  rich  chairs  on  the  right  side  of 
the  chapel  facing  the  door;  those  chairs  were  elevated  one 
step  above  the  level  of  the  floor.  Three  chosen  disputants 
occupied  the  first  places  on  the  opposite  side,  then  the 
bishops,  &c.  The  Swiss  guards  formed  at  the  door  and 
lined  the  passage.  The  exercises  began  with  an  exceedingly 
ingenious  argument  against  the  Primacy  of  St.  Peter,  made 
with  great  tact  and  skill  by  the  prelate  Raffaelle  Fornari, 
Canonist  of  the  Penitentiary,  former  Professor  of  Theology 
in  the  Propaganda,  and  a  man  of  the  very  first  ability. 
This  lasted  nearly  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  The  second 
was  on  the  subject  of  Greece,  by  Father  Perrone,  a  Jesuit, 
Professor  of  Dogmatic  Theology  in  the  Roman  College ; 
he  is  a  man  of  the  most  profound  research  and  great  logical 
powers,  with  an  admirable  memory.  The  engagement  lasted 
Tialf  an  hour.  Nearly  as  long  again  was  occupied  in  an 
argument  against  the  divine  character  of  Christianity,  by 
Father  Modena,  Assistant  to  the  Master  of  tbe  Sacred  Palace 
and  a  Dominican  friar.  The  cardinals  rose  and  shook  hands 
with  the  Kcntuckian,  who  was  carried  away  by  his  fellow- 
students  in  triumph. 

Thus  ended  the  public  disputation  at  about  eight  o'clock. 
This  is  a  specimen  of  Roman  schools  and  monkish  ignorance. 

VI. 

The  charge  of  monkish  ignorance,  with  all  its  unmeaning1 
concomitants,  comes  against  this  city  with  a  very  bad  grace 
from  places  where  as  yet  comparatively  little  has  been  done 
to  promote  or  to  sustain  a  literary  spirit.  It  is  true  Rome 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  297 

had  her  days  of  light,  flimsy  gossamer-like  semblance  of 
science.  She  had  also  her  day  of  melancholy  oppression. 
She  has  had  the  peace  of  her  children  destroyed  by  the 
turmoil  of  faction ;  she  has  had  to  weep  over  the  fury  of 
her  sons,  and  to  mingle  her  tears  with  the  torrents  of  their 
blood,  not  shed  in  the  defence  of  public  rights,  but  for  the 
purposes  of  ambition.  Religion  often  restrained  and  soothed 
the  desperado ;  but  religion  herself  was  sometimes  trodden 
down  and  bruised  and  wounded  in  the  unholy  affrays  pro- 
duced by  the  lust  of  power.  In  those  days  the  din  of 
confusion  distracted  even  the  monk  in  his  cloister;  and 
closing  the  pages  or  rolling  up  the  parchment,  he  wept  and 
prayed  before  the  altar ;  or  if  he  came  out,  it  was  to  make 
an  effort  for  peace,  it  was  to  cast  himself  between  the 
exasperated  victor  and  his  prostrate  victim ;  to  lift  the 
emblematic  crucifix  by  which  the  God  of  mercy  and  the 
Judge  of  men  admonished  the  one,  and  to  fling  the  protecting- 
mantle  of  religion  over  the  other.  The  day  of  tumult,  the 
arena  of  faction,  the  intrigues  of  ambition,  the  contests  of 
violence,  are  not  favorable  to  the  pursuits  of  literature.  And 
in  this  holy  city,  as  in  all  other  places,  human  passions  are 
found  in  human  beings.  Rome  has  had  her  vicissitudes. 
Yet  may  she  look  around  in  calm  dignity,  and  with  the 
roll  of  ages  unfolded  and  the  surface  of  the  globe  exhib- 
ited to  the  beholders,  firmly  ask  where  is  her  rival.  The 
number  of  literary  and  scientific  societies  at  present  not 
merely  in  existence  but  in  operation  here,  exceeds  that  of 
any  other  city  that  I  know,  or  perhaps  that  is  known. 
Instead  of  a  general  description,  I  shall  give  you  a  few 
details ;  and  those  probably  not  one-fourth  of  what  might 
be  collected  within  the  same  period,  as  I  was  occupied  in 
such  a  way  as  to  leave  me  little  leisure. 

The  Academy  of  the  Catholic  Religion  held  one  of  its 
stated  meetings  on  the  evening  of  Thursday,  April  24. 
The  president  of  this  academy  is  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Soglia,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus ;  the  secretary  ad  interim  is 
the  Rev.  Father  John  Baptist  Rosani,  Procurator-General 


298  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

of  the  Eegular  Clerks  for  Pious  Schools.  The  academy 
consists  of  a  large  number  of  highly  talented  and  erudite 
clergymen  and  laymen,  and  they  have  a  very  respectable 
body  of  honorary  members  in  various  parts  of  the 
world.  The  object  is  to  make  those  literary  researches 
which  are  demanded  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the 
times,  for  the  illustration  and  support  of  the  Catholic 
religion.  They  meet  in  a  large  hall  at  the  Roman  Uni- 
versity, generally  called  the  Sapienza.  On  this  evening 
Father  Olivieri,  General  of  the  Dominican  friars,  read  an 
extremely  interesting  and  erudite  essay,  to  prove  that,  with- 
out a  knowledge  of  Sacred  Scriptures,  it  was  utterly 
impossible  to  have  any  accurate  notions  of  either  the 
antiquities  or  the  history  of  Egypt.  The  substance  of  the 
composition  is  given  in  the  following  outline :  Some  well- 
deserved  compliments  to  the  exertions  of  the  learned  acade- 
mician, Monsignor  Testa,  for  his  famous  dissertation,  by 
which  was  demonstrated  the  correct  epoch  of  the  zodiac  of 
Denderah,  that  by  some  exquisites  is  thrown  back  to  ages 
before  the  flood,  and  by  others  to  ages  before  the  crea- 
tion ;  he  then  remarked  upon  the  value  of  those  Egyptian 
monuments,  which,  whatever  might  be  the  object  of  those 
that  sought  and  produced  them,  gave,  by  their  own  authentic 
symbols  and  explanations,  results  always  favorable  to  the 
cause  of  religion.  Upon  this  principle  he  considered  Egypt 
as  connected  with  the  great  facts  of  sacred  history ;  he 
enumerated  the  several  kinds  of  antiquities  remaining  to  us. 
A  vast  collection  is  found  in  the  galleries  of  the  Vatican, 
and  some  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  He  showed  the  aids 
furnished  by  profane  erudition,  especially  from  the  cata- 
logues of  monarchs  of  the  Egyptian  dynasties;  he  proved  that, 
without  the  help  of  the  sacred  volumes,  it  is  impossible  to 
make  any  reasonable  distribution  of  those  numbers.  Accord- 
ing to  the  chronology  which  approximates  nearest  to  the 
Hebrew  copies  considered  as  most  to  be  relied  upon  and 
to  the  Latin  Vulgate,  it  is  impossible  to  go  beyond  Cham, 
the  son  of  Noe.  The  journeys  of  Abraham  and  his  sojourn 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  299 

in  Egypt  exhibit,  as  does  all  the  history  of  that  period, 
the  infancy  of  political  institutions  in  that  country,  the 
monuments  of  which  cannot  precede  the  time  of  Joseph, 
the  great-grandson  of  Abraham,  under  whose  administration 
the  power  and  grandeur  of  the  Egyptian  monarchs  had 
their  origin.  Finally,  the  learned  academician  demonstrated, 
with  evidence,  that  the  arts  and  sciences  had  no  earlier 
origin  than  the  days  of  his  administration  in  that  country, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  precocious  of  Africa,  and  equal, 
perhaps,  to  any  in  Asia.  He  showed  that,  previous  to  the 
deluge,  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  many  of 
the  arts  which  flourished  in  ancient  Egypt;  and  that  a 
mighty  process  of  time  would  not  be  required  for  the 
attainment  of  such  a  grade  of  knowledge,  seeing  that  God 
had  created  man  in  a  state  of  adult  vigor,  endowed  with 
language  for  the  communication  of  ideas,  and  with  infor- 
mation necessary  not  only  for  the  preservation  of  life,  but 
for  the  father  of  future  generations.  The  meeting  Avas  well 
attended ;  amongst  those  present  were  Cardinals  Pedicini, 
Zurla,  and  Lambruschini,  ordinary  canons  of  the  academy; 
several  archbishops,  bishops,  distinguished  prelates,  nobles, 
and  literary  men  of  various  ranks. 

The  Archaeological  Academy  is  a  very  highly  respectable 
society,  which  holds  its  meetings  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
Roman  Archiginnasio.  Its  object  is  the  illustration  of  ancient 
monuments,  and  especially  the  correction  of  any  popular  errors 
respecting  those  generally  best  known.  Protector,  Cardinal 
Galleffi ;  President,  the  Marquis  Commander  Louis  Biondi ; 
Secretary,  the  Cavaliere  Peter  Hercules  Visconti.  In  such 
a  city  as  Rome,  a  society  of  this  description  is  most  use- 
ful. The  number  of  ancient  Pagan  monuments  that  line 
the  wall  on  your  right,  as  you  enter  by  the  long  passage 
to  the  galleries  and  chambers  of  statues  in  the  Vatican — 
the  corresponding  monuments  of  early  Christianity  on  your 
left — the  succession  of  Egyptian  monuments  in  the  various 
chambers  by  which  you  pass  to  that  which  contains  the 
iine  painting  of  George  IV  of  England,  by  Sir  Thomas 


300  P^V  PICTURES    OF  ROME. 


Lawrence,  and  the  casts  of  the  Grecian  marble,  not  to 
speak  of  the  vast  quantities  daily  produced  from  the  exca- 
vations, would  well  employ  many  learned  antiquarians. 

A  stated  meeting  was  held  on  the  12th  of  June,  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Marquis  Biondi.  The  Academician 
Cavaliere  T.  Monaldi  pronounced  the  eulogy  of  Domenico 
Sestina,  a  noble  Florentine,  deeply  learned  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  medals,  and  a  corresponding  member  of  the  academy. 
The  secretary  then  produced  an  ancient  Italian  vase,  con- 
siderably adorned  with  figures,  and  which  was  found  in 
the  month  of  last  December  in  the  excavations  near  Bol- 
sena,  and  which  now  belongs  to  the  collection  of  Signer 
Campanari,  in  this  city.  The  learned  secretary  showed  that 
it  contained  amongst  others  representations  of  the  last 
libation  made  by  Hector  on  parting  from  Priam  and  Hecuba 
previous  to  encountering  Achilles.  He  thence  took  occasion 
to  discuss  the  origin  of  the  Italian  arts,  and  of  the  poets 
who  inspired  the  artists,  vindicating  in  arts  for  Italy  a 
priority  over  Greece.  There  were  present  on  the  occasion 
Cardinals  Zurla,  Sala,  Castracane,  Gazzoli,  Mattei,  and  Gri- 
maldi,  all  honorary  members.  His  eminence  Cardinal  James 
Monico,  Patriarch  of  Venice,  was  admitted  to  honorary 
membership. 

Another  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  on  the  evening 
of  the  26th  of  June,  on  which  occasion  the  secretary  con- 
tinued the  reading  of  a  dissertation  of  which  he  had  given 
a  portion  at  a  previous  meeting.  It  was  by  the  corre- 
sponding member  and  associate,  Cavaliere  Prockesch  d'Osten, 
on  the  antiquities  of  the  Island  of  Naxos.  Then  an  illustra- 
tion was  given  of  a  military  diploma  of  the  Emperor  Adrian, 
now  first  brought  to  view.  It  was  written  by  the  corre- 
sponding member  and  associate,  Signor  Clement  Cardinali. 
At  this  meeting  there  were  present  Cardinals  Zurla,  Sala, 
and  Grimaldi,  honorary  members,  besides  many  others  of 
high  respectability. 

On  the  19th  of  June  there  was  another  meeting  of  the 
Academy  of  the  Catholic  Religion,  on  which  occasion  the 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  301 

Rev.  Secretary  read  a  very  fine  essay  of  the  academician, 
Cavaliere  Angelo  Maria  Ricci,  a  Knight  of  Malta  and  an 
excellent  poet,  "  On  the  influence  which  the  Catholic  religion 
has  always  had  on  the  progress  of  literature  and  the  fine 
arts."  The  best  judges  of  style  gave  high  praises  to  this 
composition,  for  its  perspicuity,  elegance,  varying  harmony 
with  the  varying  tone  of  the  subject,  and  a  simple  sweet- 
ness of  delicate,  natural  expression.  Since  Charles  Villers 
obtained  the  prize  from  the  National  Institute  of  France  in 
1802  for  his  essay  to  show  that  the  religious  changes 
made  by  Luther  improved  literature  and  the  arts,  it  has 
to  a  certain  extent  been  fashionable  to  copy,  to  imitate,  or 
to  emulate  his  effort.  The  academician  reviewed  the  alle- 
gations of  a  whole  host  of  those  gentry,  showing  upon  how 
flimsy  a  foundation  they  rested,  going  from  age  to  age  of 
previous  centuries  to  exhibit  that  before  the  bold  professor 
of  Wittenberg  ventured  upon  the  defence  of  the  first  thesis, 
the  arts  and  sciences  had  attained  and  lost,  and  ;  gain 
attained,  again  lost  many  of  those  accidental  improvements 
which  were  with  so  little  reason  attributed  to  his  innova- 
tions. The  principles  and  powers  of  sound  criticism  were 
here  well  applied. 

It  was  demonstrated  in  the  fullness  of  evidence,  that  in 
the  dark  days  of  a  desolating  barbarism,  which  anti-Christian 
hordes  spread  over  the  civilized  countries  of  Europe,  the 
fine  arts,  science,  and  literature  owed  their  asylum  to  Popes, 
bishops,  and  monks,  who  preserved,  cultivated,  cherished, 
and  restored  them  until,  by  their  indefatigable  and  protracted 
exertions,  those  ferocious  conquerors  were  softened  into 
humanity,  subjected  to  religion,  and  brought  to  the  porch  of 
civilization ;  that  as  society,  thus  reformed,  was  advancing 
towards  perfection,  these  ennobling  appendages  were  also 
receiving  their  development.  The  essayist  then  proceeded 
by  analysis,  by  comparison,  and  by  examples  to  show  how 
much  the  spirit  of  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  purity  of 
its  morality  contributed  to  render  more  sublime  and  perfect 
the  conceptions  of  the  poet,  of  the  philosopher,  and  of 
the  artist. 


302  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

The  meeting  was  attended  by  cardinals  Castracane  and 
Grimaldi,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Acrida,  and  by  many 
distinguished  prelates,  nobles,  clergy,  and  other  literary 
characters. 

The  object  of  the  Academy  of  St.  Luke  is  the  encourage- 
ment, improvement  and  cultivation  of  the  fine  arts.  Its 
officers  are:  President,  Cavaliere  Gaspare  Salvi;  Vice- 
President,  Professor  Thomas  Minardi;  Ex-President,  Cavaliere 
Antonio  D'Estre;  Secretary  of  the  Council,  Professor  Louis 
Poletti ;  Steward,  Clement  Caval  Folchi ;  Perpetual  Secretary 
of  the  Academy,  Professor  Salvatore  Batti. 

In  the  schools,  there  are  the  following  professorships : 
Painting,  two,  Pozzi  and  Minardi ;  Sculpture,  two,  Thor- 
waldsen  and  Tenerani ;  Theory  of  Architecture,  Gaspare 
Salvi;  Practical  Architecture,  Valadier;  Elementary  and  Orna- 
mental Architecture,  Julius  Camporesa;  Geometry,  Perspective, 
and  Optics,  Peter  Delicati;  Anatomy,  Cajetan  Albites;  History, 
Mythology,  and  Dress,  Salvatore  Batti.  Besides  the  above 
who  are  in  actual  employment,  there  are  belonging  to  the 
Society  resident  professors  of  merit,  that  is,  men  whose 
professional  merits,  duly  ascertained,  have  entitled  them 
to  be  enrolled ;  of  them  there  are  of  the  several  classes, 
the  following  number :  Class  of  Painting — Councillors,  8 ; 
Academicians  of  merit,  4 ;  Landscapes,  4 ;  Engravers  of 
copper-plate,  2.  Every  name  here  is  that  of  a  man  high  in 
fame.  Class  of  Sculpture  —  Councillors,  8;  Academicians 
of  merit,  4;  Engravers  in  steel  and  hard  stone,  3.  Class 
of  Architecture — Councillors,  8 ;  Academicians  of  merit,  4. 
This  is  a  first  rate  institution.  The  schools,  all  of  which 
are  supported  by  the  Pope,  and  the  lectures  in  which  are 
gratuitous,  are  held  in  the  Roman  University  or  Archiginnasio. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  academy  on  the  6th  of  this  month, 
the  president  in  the  chair,  he  spoke  upon  several  topics, 
but  particularly  of  a  receipt,  dated  June  28,  by  which  he 
assigns  a  rich  uniform  dress,  to  be  worn  on  state  occasions 
by  the  professors  of  merit  of  this  institute.  It  reckons 
amongst  its  honorary  members  several  of  the  most  distin- 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  303- 

guished  men   of  various  nations,  eminent  patrons  of  the  fine 
arts   or   cultivators   of  science  connected  therewith. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  by  a  joint  regulation  of  both  the 
Archaeological  Academy  and  that  of  St.  Luke,  they  held 
their  yearly  joint  assembly;  on  this  occasion  the  great  hall 
was  decorated  with  peculiar  splendor.  His  eminence,  Cardinal 
Dom  Placido  Zurla,  Vicar-General  of  Rome,  Prefect  of  the 
Council  of  Studies,  a  Benedictine  monk  of  the  congregation 
of  Camaldoli,  and  probably  one  of  the  most  polished  scholars, 
and  most  eloquent  men  in  Europe,  was  the  orator.  His 
theme  was  the  influence  of  religion  on  the  fine  arts.  He 
dwelt  principally  on  the  sublime  group  of  Canova  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  Pieta  at  St.  Peter's,  as  well  as  on  the  other 
splendid  productions  by  means  of  which  genius  consigned 
the  fame  of  the  artist  to  the  care  of  immortality.  Canova 
was  president  of  both  the  societies.  The  close  logical 
reasoning,  the  glowing  and  distinct  illustrations,  and  the 
expanded  philosophical  reflections  which  flowed  in  such 
strong  and  harmonious  language  from  this  eminent,  good, 
and  extraordinarily  active  man,  now  in  the  sixty-sixth  year 
of  his  age,  delighted  his  auditory  and  drew  forth  repeated 
bursts  of  applause.  Amongst  those  present  were  noticed  the 
Cardinal  Camerlengo  Galleffi,  protector  of  both  societies, 
Cardinals  Macchi,  Lambruschini,  Sala,  Castracane,  Monicor 
Polidori,  Rlvarola,  Gazzoli,  Mattei,  and  Grimaldi.  The 
treasurer,  Tosti,  better  known  as  the  president  of  the  fine 
establishment  of  San  Michele,  and  a  very  large  body  of 
prelates,  nobility,  and  literary  men,  and  patrons  of  the  arts, 
most  of  whom,  as  are  all  above  named,  were  honorary 
members  of  one  or  both  academies.  It  was  thought  by  some 
that  the  Pope  would  attend  to  compliment  the  orator,  who- 
is  his  confessor,  and  formerly  was  his  superior,  as  they  are 
monks  of  the  same  order,  but  His  Holiness  was  not  present. 

VII. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  of  July  the  Tiberine  Acad- 
emy held  a  stated  meeting  at  its  hall  in  the  Palazzo  Muti, 
at  Aracreli,  near  the  capitol ;  President,  Charles  Marquis 


304  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

Antichi ;  secretary,  the  lawyer  John  Baptist  de  Dominis. 
The  object  is  the  cultivation  of  polite  literature ;  occasion- 
ally, or  rather  as  incidentally  connected  with  the  principal 
object,  antiquities.  I  believe  this  academy  has  public  meet- 
ings every  week  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year. 
Their  president  is  elected  annually.  This  .meeting  was  one 
of  what  is  called  "  di  libero  argomento,"  which  gives 
greater  scope  to  the  academicians  to  introduce  any  species 
of  composition. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th  the  president  began  by  read- 
ing a  production  of  his  own,  exceedingly  well  written, 
pointing  out  the  principles  and  regulations  by  whose  means 
the  theatre  might,  without  difficulty,  be  made  truly  profit- 
able, as  an  institution  for  public  instruction  as  well  as 
a  public  amusement.  He  was  followed  by  the  vice-president 
of  this  year,  the  Rev.  Father,  Master  John  Baptist  Rosani, 
procurator-general  of  the  pious  schools  and  professor  of 
eloquence  in  the  Nazarene  College.  This  learned  and  respect- 
able clergyman  read  what  was  called  a  very  fine  piece  of 
heroic  poetry  composed  by  him  for  the  occasion,  but  I  could 
'not  well  understand  the  subject.  The  learned  and  polished 
scholar,  Cavaliere  Angelo  Maria  Ricci,  followed  with  a  short 
composition  called  "il  Capitolo,"  which  is  a  poetic  vision 
in  the  style  of  Dante,  the  lyric  ode.  The  secretary  intro- 
duced the  architect,  Gaspare  Servi,  who  read  a  composition 
styled  "i  Decasillabi,"  or  lyric  poetry  of  ten-  syllables  in  each 
line.  This  gentleman  is  one  of  the  council  of  the  year  for 
the  Tiberine  Academy.  Epigrams  were  produced  in  Italian 
and  Latin  by  Cavaliere  Michael  Angelo  Barberi  and  the 
Abbate  Don  Antonio  Somai,  the  treasurer.  Sonnets  and 
other  light  productions  by  the  following  academicians  were 
interspersed,  viz.,  Count  Thomas  Gnoli,  dean  of  the  con- 
sistorial  advocates,  Rev.  Raimondo  Pigliacelli,  professor  of 
theology  in  the  Urban  College  of  the  Propaganda,  Messrs. 
Philip  Zampi,  of  the  council,  and  Hannibal  Lepsi,  perpetual 
archivist  of  the  academy. 

The   Linchi,    or   Lynxes,    is    considered    one    of    the    most 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  305 

scientific  academies  of  the  city.  The  proper  title  is  Nuovi 
Linchi,  or  New  Lynxes.  The  old  society  to  which  it  suc- 
ceeds had  done  an  immensity  for  science,  but  had  ceased 
to  exist.  The  principal  object  is  to  look  out  with  the 
watchfulness  designated  by  the  name  for  the  discoveries 
and  improvements  of  natural  philosophy  in  every  place,  and 
to  turn  them  to  advantage.  The  Cavaliere  Don  Feliciano 
Scarpellini,  a  respectable  priest,  is  the  director  and  per- 
petual secretary.  Their  meeting  place  is  in  the  capitol,  in 
which  is  an  observatory  under  the  care  of  this  learned 
director;  there  is  another  at  the  Roman  College  under  the 
care  of  the  Jesuits. 

On  the  evening  of  the  13th  a  meeting  of  this  academy 
was  held,  at  which  nine  cardinals  were  present,  besides  a 
great  number  of  prelates  of  various  grades  and  several  of 
the  nobility,  clergy,  and  literati.  The  session  was  opened 
with  an  oration  delivered  by  Cardinal  Odescalchi,  Bishop  of 
Sabina,  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  Holy  See,  archpriest  of  the 
Basilica  of  St.  John  Lateran,  and  prefect  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  affairs  of  bishops  and  regulars.  In  it  his  eminence, 
in  fine  language,  exhibited  and  described  the  motives  which 
animated  and  urged  Prince  Frederick  Cesi,  the  founder  of 
this  excellent  academy. 

This  cardinal  was  followed  by  the  Cavaliere  Scarpellini, 
a  man  dear  to  science  and  to  literature,  precious  to  this 
academy,  to  which  he  concentrates  honorable  and  heavy 
labors.  He  gave  a  summary  of  the  academical  acts  of  the 
past  year,  in  which  he  exhibited  the  exertions  and  progress 
of  the  distinguished  members  and  their  merited  rewards. 
He  dwelt  with  peculiar  emphasis  and  satisfaction  on  an 
exceedingly  useful  discovery  in  optics,  by  the  illustrious 
Signor  Alberto  Gatti,  the  extraordinary  perfection  given  to 
reflecting  mirrors  in  pictra  dura,  and  which  is  a  matter  of 
the  very  first  importance  in  the  construction  of  telescopes. 
In  doing  so  he  not  only  bestowed  the  due  meed  of  praise 
on  the  inventor,  but  paid  a  just  compliment  to  the  papal 
government,  which  animated,  aided,  and  urged  him  forward 
20 


306  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

in  his  exertions,  as  also  to  the  academy  that  saw  the 
utility  of  the  discovery  and  exerted  itself  to  procure  the 
advantage  for  science  and  the  credit  for  Rome. 

On  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  this  month  the  Academy 
of  the  Archseologia  held  their  last  stated  meeting  for  the 
academical  year.  They  will  not  assemble  for  ordinary  busi- 
ness until  after  October.  On  this  occasion  the  secretary 
read  a  dissertation  transmitted  by  the  corresponding  asso- 
ciate, Cavaliere  Luigi  Nardi,  in  which  he  gives  the  history 
of  the  commentaries  of  Pope  Pius  II,  who  died  in  1464r 
having  governed  the  Church  nearly  six  years.  The  asso- 
ciate describes  the  different  editions  of  this  work,  and 
informs  the  academy  that  an  apograph,  or  antique  MS. 
copy  of  these  commentaries  of  an  early  date  has  been 
found  in  the  Gambalunga  of  Rimino,  which  has  many  very 
fine  and  useful  passages,  by  which  this  work  of  the  learned 
pontiff  can  be  well  corrected  and  made  perfect,  as  has  long 
been  desired. 

The  secretary  then  entered  upon  a  train  of  reasoning  in 
regard  to  the  early  culture  of  Indian  arts,  based  on  the  paint- 
ing of  an  antique  Italian  vase,  found  this  year  in  the  Bol- 
senian  excavations,  and  kept  in  the  fine  collection  of  the 
Campanari  in  this  city.  This  vase  is  a  Tyrrhenian  pitcher 
two  Roman  palms  and  nine  inches  in  height.  On  the 
principal  side  it  exhibits,  distinguished  by  their  names,  Ajax 
and  Achilles.  They  appear  to  have  cast  lots  to  decide,  as 
the  secretary  supposes,  some  military  contest.  The  perfect 
execution  of  the  figures  in  black  upon  a  yellow  ground,  in 
the  best  style,  does  honor  to  the  artist  already  well  knoAyn 
by  other  discovered  works ;  he  has  marked  his  name, 
Ezecia,  in  two  places  upon  this  vessel,  which  is  one  of 
the  most  precious  that  is  known. 

Besides  the  above,  I  know  the  following :  The  Academy 
of  Noble  Ecclesiastics :  Protector,  Cardinal  Pacca,  dean  of 
the  sacred  college,  and  Bishop  of  Ostia;  President,  the  Most 
Rev.  James  Sinibaldi,  Archbishop  of  Damietta.  Theological 
Academy,  holding  its  meeting  in  the  Roman  University : 


FEX  PICTURES   OF  ROME.  307 

Protectors,  Cardinals  Pacca,  Zurla,  Lambruschini,  and  Albano ; 
Secretary,  Rev.  Angelo  Mai.  Unica  of  Ecclesiastics  of  St. 
Paul,  held  in  the  Church  of  Sant.  Appolonara :  Protector, 
Cardinal  Zurla ;  First  Regulator,  Most  Rev.  John  Soglia, 
Archbishop  of  Ephesus;  Secretary-General,  Rev.  Pius  Bigui. 
The  Arcadia,  for  lighter  literature,  and  improvisation ;  its 
ordinary  meetings  are  held  at  the  Serbatorio,  in  the  Via 
del  Lavatore,  near  the  splendid  fountain  of  Trevi;  the 
solemn  ones  at  the  capitol :  Guardian-General,  the  Rev. 
Gabriel  Laureani;  Pro-Guardian,  Don  Paolo  Barola.  The 
Latin  Academy  holds  its  sessions  in  the  Palazzo  Sinibaldi ; 
of  this,  the  lawyer  Francis  Guadagni  is  president,  and 
Signor  Frederic  Petrilli  is  secretary.  The  Philharmonic 
Academy  unites  perhaps  the  most  splendid  assemblage  of 
vocal  and  instrumental  performers  in  any  one  •  body  in  the 
world.  I  have  been  more  than  once  at  their  performance, 
to  which,  in  the  proper  seasons,  the  respectable  strangers 
in  the  city  are  generously  invited.  It  is  a  pity  that  their 
rooms  are  not  larger.  The  principal  one  would  scarcely 
accommodate  four  hundred  persons.  Prince  D.  Francis  Bor- 
ghese  is  president  of  the  Academy,  and  Signor  Joseph  Spada 
is  secretary;  their  rooms  are  in  the  Palazzo  Lancelloti,  near 
the  Piazza  Navona.  The  Philodramatic  Academy  holds  its 
meetings  at  No.  18,  near  the  Palazzo  Cesarini  in  the  Via 
del  Pavone,  under  the  presidency  of  the  commander,  Pietro 
of  the  Princes  Odescalchi ;  the  secretary  is  Signor  Joseph 
Capobianchi.  The  names  of  these  several  societies  suffi- 
ciently denote  with  the  explanations  given  what  are  their 
general  objects.  I  do  not  know  of  any  other.  I  believe 
they  are  twelve  in  all. 

The  Theological  Schools  are  numerous,  and  the  rivalry 
in  science  is  not  small.  Amongst  those  schools  one  belonging 
to  the  Franciscan  Order  has  lately  made  a  considerable 
display.  In  1588,  Pope  Sixtus  V  founded  the  College  of 
St.  Bonaventure  in  the  Convent  of  the  XII  Apostles,  for 
young  minor  conventual  students.  This  has  generally  sus- 
tained a  fair  character  and  produced  some  learned  men.  In 


308  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

last  June,  a  triennial  examination  for  degrees  was  held,  and 
the  objectors  were  not  idle.  The  bachelors  who  had  attained 
their  first  honors  in  the  provincial  schools  of  the  Order, 
now  came  to  this  college  not  only  to  seek  their  higher  grade 
by  examination,  but  also,  by  literary  contest,  to  seek  for  the 
pre-eminence  of  their  several  schools  and  teachers.  Cardinal 
Brancadoro,  who  is  now  seventy-nine  years  of  age  and  thirty- 
three  years  a  cardinal,  and  is  the  senior  on  the  bench  of 
cardinal-priests,  is  Archbishop  of  Fermo  and  protector  of 
this  college.  Being  unable  to  attend,  he  requested  Pacca, 
the  cardinal-dean  to  represent  him.  The  degrees  of  the 
successful  candidates  were  conferred  under  the  regency  of 
the  Rev.  Father,  Master  Hyacinth  Guarlerni,  on  Saturday 
the  12th  inst.  After  which  the  Rev.  Father  Collegial, 
Antonio  Casaro  of  Calatafemi,  in  Sicily,  who  had  been 
.selected  for  the  purpose,  defended  his  theses,  which  he  had 
dedicated  to  Cardinal  Brancadoro.  The  defence  was  made 
in  the  Church  of  the  XII.  I  remained  "only  a  few  moments, 
and  as  the  propositions  that  I  saw  selected  by  the  objectors 
were  mere  squabbles  upon  scholastic  opinions,  I  took  but 
little  interest  in  the  useless  subtlety  of  metaphysical  abstrac- 
tion in  which  they  were  engaged. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  theological  seminaries  and 
colleges  of  Rome,  besides  that  of  the  Roman  University  or 
Sapienza.  I  give  them  here  as  they  are  recognized,  though 
in  many  instances  two  are  united  in  one  establishment,  and 
others,  though  they  keep  separate  houses,  yet  attend  the 
same  course  of  lectures:  1.  The  Roman  Seminary  for  the 
diocese  of  Rome.  2.  The  Seminary  of  the  Chapter  of  St. 
Peter's,  for  that  church,  etc.  Colleges :  3.  The  Roman, 
taught  by  the  Jesuits.  4.  The  Urban,  at  the  Propaganda. 
5.  Germanico-Hungarian,  at  the  Gesii.  G.  Of  St.  Thomas 
of  Aquin.  7.  Salviati.  8.  Capranicense.  9.  English.  10. 
Scotch,  now  at  the  Propaganda.  11.  Irish.  12.  Greek,  at 
the  Propaganda.  13.  Maronist,  do.  14.  Ginnasi.  15.  Pam- 
phili.  16.  Bandinelli.  17.  Ghislieri.  18.  Clementine.  19. 
Nazarine.  20.  Sabine.  21.  Of  Liege.  22.  Of  Neophytes. 
23.  Carasoli  Piceno. 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  309 

The  Roman  University,  or  the  Sapienza,  is  an  institu- 
tion of  vast  literary  convenience  and  unusual  facilities.  Its 
body  of  professors  is  a  host  indeed ;  its  schools  open  to 
every  aspirant.  I  shall  give  you  the  summary.  The  Car- 
dinal Camerlengo  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church  is  ex-offieio 
arch-chancellor  of  this  university.  (Galleffi  is  at  present 
Camerlengo.)  Deputy-rector :  Monsignor  Jerome  Bontadosi, 
consistorial  advocate.  The  first  college  is  that  of  consistorial 
advocates,  consisting  of  a  dean,  secretary,  and  seven  mem- 
bers. The  vice-rector  is  the  advocate,  Raffaelle  Bertinelli. 
Second  college:  Theologians,  a  president,  secretary,  and  four- 
teen members,  of  whom  two  only  are  seculars ;  the  others 
of  the  various  religious  orders.  Third  college :  Medicine 
and  Surgery,  a  dean,  secretary,  and  sixteen  doctors.  Fourth 
college:  Philosophy,  a  president  and  thirteen  members.  Fifth 
college :  Philology,  u  president  and  eight  members.  In  the 
lists  of  the  above  councillors  is  many  a  learned  name.  Pro- 
fessors and  Lecturers  :  1 .  Sacred  Department. — Holy  Scrip- 
tures, one ;  Speculative  Theology,  three ;  Theological  topics, 
one;  Moral  Theology,  one;  Ecclesiastical  History,  one;  Sacred 
Physics,  one.  2.  Department  of  Laws. — Natural  Law  and 
Law  of  Nations,  one ;  Public  Ecclesiastical  Law,  one ;  Insti- 
tutions of  Canon  Law,  one ;  Texts  of  Canon  Law,  one ; 
Institutes  of  Civil  Law,  one ;  Texts  of  Civil  Law,  two ; 
Institutes  of  Criminal  Law,  one.  3.  Department  of  Medi- 
cine and  Surgery. — Anatomical  Institutes,  one ;  Physiology, 
one ;  Elements  of  Chemistry,  one ;  Botany,  one ;  Practical 
Botany,  one ;  Pathology,  etc.,  one ;  Therapeutics  and  Ma- 
teria  Medica,  one ;  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  one ; 
Medical  Jurisprudence,  one ;  Clinical  Lectures,  two ;  Com- 
parative Anatomy  and  Natural  History  of  Animals,  one ; 
Surgery,  etc.,  one;  Obstetrics,  one;  Clinical  Surgery,  one; 
Practical  Pharmacy,  one ;  Veterinary  Surgery,  one.  4.  De- 
partment of  Philosophy. — Experimental  Physics,  one ;  Intro- 
duction to  the  Calculus,  one ;  Sublime  Calculus,  one ;  Me- 
chanics and  Hydraulics,  one ;  Optics  and  Astronomy,  one ; 
Architecture  as  connected  with  Statics  and  Hydraulics,  one; 


310  PEN  PICTURES    OF  ROME. 

Descriptive  Geometry,  one;  Mineralogy  and  Natural  History, 
one;  Archaeology,  one.  5.  Department  of  Philosophy. — Latin 
and  Italian  Eloquence  and  Roman  History,  one ;  Hebrew, 
one;  Arabic,  one;  Syro-Chaldaic,  one.  Besides  these  forty- 
seven  professors,  all  paid  by  the  Pope,  there  are  six  jubi- 
lated or  superannuated  professors,  five  emeriti,  or  persons 
having  honorably  retired,  and  two  honorary,  not  counting 
the  director  of  the  chancery.  Yet  Home  is  the  enemy  of 


learning ! 


VIII. 


August  1st  was  the  Festival  of  the  Liberation  of  St.  Peter, 
or  as  it  is  called,  "  St.  Peter's  Chains,"  and  I  was  desirous 
of  being  present  at  the  church  at  which  it  is  celebrated, 
but  a  slight  indisposition  prevented  my  going  out  in  the 
morning.  In  the  afternoon  I  got  into  a  carriage  and  told 
the  coachman  to  drive  to  the  Esquiline  Hill  to  San  Pietro 
in  Vincola.  When  I  arrived,  I  found  the  open  space  in 
front  occupied  by  carriages,  a  few  beggars,  and  a  consid- 
erable number  of  persons  going  in  and  coming  out.  A 
large  screen  of  canvass  was  extended  forward  like  a  shed 
at  a  considerable  height,  attached  to  the  front  of  the  church, 
to  keep  off  the  scorching  sun,  and  the  ground  was  strewed 
with  bay  and  other  sweet-smelling  evergreens  and  shrubs. 
Upon  entering  the  church  I  perceived  they  were  chanting 
the  solemn  second  vespers  at  the  principal  altar.  The 
church  was  decorated  with  fine  crimson  silk  and  gold  lace, 
covering  many  of  the  columns  in  the  principal  parts,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  walls.  Other  tapestry  covered  other 
parts.  The  abbot  was  seated  at  the  epistle  side  of  the 
altar,  coped  and  mitred,  and  his  community  occupied  their 
places  in  the  recess  behind  the  altar,  to  its  front,  for  this 
i.s  one  of  the  old-fashioned  altars  whose  back  is  to  the 
church.  I  took  my  place  in  the  transept  on  the  same  side, 
under  the  splendid  and  powerful  organ,  having  opposite  to 
me  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  transept  the  magnificent 
mausoleum  of  Pope  Julius  II  of  which  the  extraordinary 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  311 

statue  of  Moses,  by  Michael  Angelo,  forms  the  most  striking 
part.  The  music  was  indeed  rich  and  varied,  and  the 
singing  of  the  choir  was  exquisite. 

About  midway  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  on  your 
right  hand  as  you  enter,  is  the  altar  upon  which  the  relics 
from  which  the  church  takes  its  title  were  placed  on  this 
festival.  It  was  richly  decorated,  and  the  candles  were 
lighted.  A  fine  casket  of  considerable  size  contained  the 
relics.  They  are  the  chains  with  which  it  is  said  the 
Apostle  St.  Peter  was  bound  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Rome, 
and  which  are  believed  to  have  miraculously  united.  I 
have  not  as  yet  examined  the  evidence  on  which  the  asser- 
tion rests ;  and  as  it  is  no  article  of  faith,  I  am  not 
called  upon  to  believe  farther  than  my  own  judgment  will 
have  dictated  after  having  examined  the  special  grounds  of 
the  assertion.  I  shall,  for  the  present,  suppose  the  truth 
of  the  statement.  I  have  a  promise  from  the  abbot  of 
being  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  testimony,  which  I 
shall  examine  at  my  leisure.  From  time  to  time  a  priest 
in  a  surplice  and  stole  came,  properly  accompanied,  to  the 
altar,  opened  the  casket,  and  drawing  out  the  chain,  one 
extremity  of  which  remained  fastened  to  the  interior  of 
the  case  itself,  applied  the  other  extremity  to  the  necks 
of  those  who  knelt  before  him,  after  which  they  kissed  the 
relic,  whilst  he  repeated  a  short  form  of  prayer  on  their 
behalf.  As  I  had  not  the  opportunity  of  examining  the 
church  and  relics  as  closely  as  I  could  wish,  by  reason  of 
the  service  and  of  the  crowd,  I  departed,  determined  to  go 
this  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  for  that  purpose. 

Accordingly,  I  went  and  had  every  facility.  I  saw  the 
abbot,  who  is  an  exceedingly  learned  man,  Dom  Paolo  Del 
Signore,  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  Roman  Univer- 
sity, and  having  told  him  my  desire  to  examine  minutely 
the  chains  and  their  history,  he  kindly  accompanied  me, 
and  directed  all  concerned  with  any  department  of  the 
establishment,  to  give  me  full  information,  aid  and  oppor- 
tunity. 


312  p^V  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 


I  went  to  the  altar  upon  which  the  chains  were  placed. 
This  case  stands  upon  four  short  silver-gilt  legs,  about  an 
inch  in  height;  it  is  made  of  hard  wood,  lined  with  velvet, 
and  covered  outside  with  plates  of  highly  chased  silver  ; 
it  is  about  eight  or  ten  inches  high,  about  fifteen  or  six- 
teen inches  front  and  twelve  deep  ;  the  cover,  which  is 
solidly  attached,  rises  gradually  towards  the  centre  from 
four  sides,  to  about  two  inches  in  height,  and  the  projec- 
tion is  less  than  half  an  inch,  the  entire  in  the  form  of 
a  roof  nearly  square.  A  child,  finely  executed  in  silver, 
with  loose,  flying  drapery,  stands  on  its  summit,  his  right 
hand  moderately  extended  and  holding  a  tiara,  his  left 
gracefully  and  easily  carried  across  his  chest,  towards  the 
right  side,  a  little  above  the  hip,  and  from  it  hangs  a 
chain.  The  chasing  is  principally  free  fancy  scroll-work 
around  seraphim.  The  front  is  a  gate,  having  two  large 
oval  glazed  apertures,  through  which  you  see  the  links  of 
chain  coiled  up  within  the  case.  I  opened  this  and  drew 
out  the  chain.  It  consists  of  thirty-two  links  of  moderate 
size,  from  three  to  four  inches  in  length  ;  I  should  sup- 
pose the  heaviest  link  would  not  exceed  the  weight  of  six 
ounces.  At  one  extremity  is  a  light  sort  of  hoop  suffi- 
ciently large  to  embrace  the  neck  or  both  wrists  ;  it  con- 
sists of  two  parts  united  to  each  other  and  to  the  chain 
by  a  rivet  or  gudgeon,  oh  which,  as  on  a  hinge,  they 
turn  ;  one  of  these  has  a  loop  or  eye  at  its  extremity, 
and  the  other  two  prongs,  one  of  which  being  introduced 
into  the  eye  both  might  with  some  force  be  so  twisted 
together  as  to  secure  the  junction,  and  confine  whatever 
was  enclosed  by  the  hoop.  Upon  close  examination  it  will 
be  easily  perceived  that  there  are  three  descriptions  of 
links  :  four  are  much  lighter  and  more  delicate  than  the 
rest,  and  one  by  which  they  are  united  to  the  others  has 
the  soldering  of  the  junction  made  with  silver.  These  links 
arc  said  to  have  belonged  to  the  chain  with  which  St. 
Paul  was  bound.  A  number  of  the  other  links,  I  did  not 
count  how  many,  but  I  should  suppose  eight  or  ten,  are 


PEN"  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  313 

less  gross  than  the  others,  and  appear  much  more  worn  at 
the  places  of  contact.  No  mark  of  junction,  however,  is 
observable;  and  it  is,  moreover,  asserted  that  one  of  the 
chains  with  which  the  Apostle  was  bound  under  Herod  in 
Jerusalem,  having  been  given  in  that  city  to  Eudocia,  the 
Empress  of  Theodosius  the  Younger,  was  sent  by  her  to 
Rome  to  her  daughter  Eudoxia,  who  brought  it  to  the 
Pope,  and  he  had  in  his  possession  a  chain  with  which  the 
Apostle  had  been  bound  in  Rome  under  Nero.  Both  chains 
formed,  as  it  were,  a  spontaneous  union,  by  the  immediate 
influence  of  the  divine  power;  and  the  links  of  St.  Paul's 
chain  having  been  added,  they  are  preserved  as  memorials 
and  relics,  by  means  of  which  the  faith  of  the  people 
might  be  strengthened,  and  on  regular  days  of  solemn 
observance,  the  facts  might  be  better  brought  under  public 
consideration,  and  the  gratitude  and  piety  of  the  multitude 
increased,  in  like  manner  as  God  Himself  regulated  the 
exhibition  of  the  brazen  serpent  to  the  multitude  of  Israel, 
the  preservation  of  the  manna  in  the  ark,  the  rod  of 
Aaron,  and  other  relics  which  the  chosen  people  long  held 
in  pious  veneration.  One  of  these  links  is  fastened  to  the 
interior  of  the  case  with  a  hasp ;  and  the  case  itself,  whilst 
it  remains  upon  this  altar,  is  chained  to  it,  and  under 
continual  observation.  It  is  exhibited  twice  in  the  year ; 
once  on  a  day  within  the  octave  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul, 
I  think  the  3d  of  July  and  the  1st  of  August,  and  during 
their  octaves.  The  painting  at  this  altar  is  the  delivery 
of  Peter  from  prison  by  the  angel,  as  related  in  Acts  xii. 
At  other  times  the  relic,  enclosed  in  its  casket,  is  placed 
in  a  large  case  of  less  costly  materials,  and  kept  in  a 
recess  in  the  wall  of  the  society  with  some  other  relics. 
This  recess  is  closed  by  an  iron  grating,  the  key  of  whose 
lock  is  held  by  the  abbot.  Outside  this  grate  is  a  beau- 
tiful bronze  gate  with  two  locks,  the  key  of  one  of  which 
is  kept  by  the  cardinal,  who  is  titular  of  this  church,  at 
present  Castracane  degli  Antimenelli,  and  the  other  by  the 
Pope's  major-domo,  at  present  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Patrizi, 
Archbishop  of  Philippi. 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

The  church  is  built  upon  the  site  of  the  baths  of  Titus, 
•on  the  Esquiline,  not  very  far  from  the  Coliseum.  The 
-original  building,  which  dates  as  far  back  as  the  end  of 
the  fifth  century,  did  not  extend  beyond  the  present  main 
nave  as  far  as  the  transept.  This  is  easily  distinguished 
from  the  rest ;  it  consists  of  three  aisles  separated  by  two 
colonnades  crowned  with  arches ;  the  middle  aisle  is  about 
forty  feet  wide,  and  each  of  the  others  about  half  that 
Avidth.  In  each  of  those,  I  may  call  them  arcades,  are 
ten  fine  fluted  Doric  columns  of  Grecian  marble  taken 
from  the  baths  of  Dioclesian ;  each  shaft  is  but  a  single 
block,  upwards  of  twenty  feet  in  length.  Upon  a  smart 
friction  with  iron,  a  sub-sulphureous  smell  is  perceptible. 
At  the  termination  of  this  middle  aisle  is  a  lofty  arch, 
;sustained  by  two  fine  columns  of  granite  with  marble  cap- 
itols  of  the  composite  order ;  this  begins  the  more  recent, 
but  yet  sufficiently  ancient  part  of  the  building.  The  large 
conch-like  recess  which  forms  the  sanctuary  was  a  portion 
•of  the  baths  of  Titus.  The  altar  and  choir  are  on  the 
ancient  model;  the  altar  considerably  forward,  with  its  back 
towards  the  church,  so  that  the  celebrant  standing  at  it  faces 
the  congregation ;  and  the  benches  of  the  choir  attached  to 
the  wall  of  the  recess,  with  the  president's  seat  at  its 
•extremity  exactly  facing  the  altar,  but  having  it  between 
him  and  the  people.  I  shall  not  in  this  place  speak  of 
its  decorations,  or  paintings,  or  any  other  particulars.  Be- 
tween this  recess  and  the  old  church  of  Eudoxia  is  the 
transept,  a  fine  open  space.  When  you  enter  it  and  look 
towards  the  altar,  you  have  on  your  left  a  beautiful  organ, 
and  on  your  right,  at  the  other  extremity,  the  splendid 
monument  of  Julius  II,  who  died  in  1513.  I  cannot 
undertake  to  describe  this.  But  probably,  as  few  of  your 
readers  have  seen  accounts  of  it,  I  shall  give  them  a  very 
faint  idea  of  this  great  work  of  the  celebrated  sculptor, 
whose  conceptions  were  all  gigantic  as  his  genius. 

The  monument  occupies  the  larger  portion  of  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  transept,  and  consists  of  two  stories.  The 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  315 

lower  has  three  compartments,  and  is  upwards  of  twenty- 
feet  high.  Four  immense  blocks  of  pure  white  marble 
projecting  from  the  back  and  formed  into  partitions,  whose 
fronts  are  decorated  with  bold  and  beautiful  scrolls  and 
bear  various  emblematic  devices,  give  a  division  of  three 
great  stalls,  of  which  that  in  the  centre  is  much  the  largest. 
Seated  in  this,  considerably  forward,  in  an  easy,  dignified, 
and  commanding  attitude,  in  a  loose,  flowing  robe,  with  the 
tables  of  the  law  resting  in  his  right  hand,  the  colossal  figure 
of  the  mighty  leader  of  the  host  of  Israel  fixes  the  attention 
of  the  most  negligent.  Every  joint  is  massive,  every  limb 
is  immense,  but  the  entire  is  in  the  most  symmetrical  pro- 
portion. The  muscles  of  that  arm  which  smote  the  rock 
seem  braced  as  the  rock  itself,  and  yet  you  would  imagine 
that  the  finger  of  an  infant  would  leave  the  impression  of 
its  touch  upon  the  surface ;  the  drapery  would  change  its 
tblds  in  the  agitation  of  breeze,  or  with  the  motion  of  the 
limb  it  covers.  There  is  something  expressively  majestic  in 
the  flowing  of  those  wreaths  of  beard;  the  eye  shows  keen 
vigor  and  penetration,  and  looks  upon  some  object  of  mighty 
moment,  with  a  degree  of  interest,  mingled  with  momentary 
satisfaction  and  the  consciousness  of  the  power  to  command ; 
the  lips  are  parted,  and  we  are  not  astonished  to  hear,  that 
the  mighty  artist,  when  he  perfected  his  work,  stood  with 
his  own  eye  riveted  upon  that  face,  and  after  the  absorption 
of  his  faculties,  carried  away  by  his  feeling,  and  anxious  to 
know  what  lay  concealed,  impatiently  struck  the  knees,  which 
he  could  reach  with  his  chisel,  and  cried,  "  Speak ! " 

The  figure  of  Meditation  in  the  niche  on  his  right,  and 
that  of  Prudence  on  his  left,  would,  if  placed  elsewhere,  be 
well  worthy  of  attention.  They  as  well  as  those  over  them 
•were  made  by  Mateo  Lupo ;  but  the  observer  is  perpetu- 
ally drawn  off,  without  perceiving  the  process  by  which  it 
is  effected,  to  the  principal  figure  itself. 

The  second  story  is  divided  in  like  manner.  The  Pon- 
tiff, Julius  II,  is  reclining  in  a  posture  half  raised  from 
his  cushion,  and  stooping  forward  as  if  to  point  the 


316  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

observers  to  the  contemplation  of  the  sainted  Hebrew  who 
sits  below.  He  is  in  pontificals,  wearing  his  tiara.  In  a 
niche  considerably  above  him  is  a  finely  executed  statue 
of  Religion,  wyith  a  child  in  her  arms ;  this  innocent  holds 
a  bird  that  attracts  his  attention ;  as  far  as  I  could  observe 
it  was  a  dove,  emblematic  of  himself.  In  the  recesses  at 
each  side  of  the  Pontiff  are  Temperance  on  the  right  and 
Pontifical  Sagacity  upon  the  left.  The  effect  produced  by 
the  group  is  magnificent. 

Turning  to  my  left,  to  enter  the  sacristy  by  a  door 
which  is  to  the  right  of  the  monument,  my  attention  was 
arrested  by  the  painting  over  the  altar  which  was  close  at 
hand,  and  which  terminated  the  right  aisle  of  the  church. 
It  was  not  large,  nor  was  the  light  strong,  nor  the  piece 
very  distinctly  seen,  yet  I  saw  it  was  worthy  of  a  mas- 
ter's name.  I  am  no  connoisseur.  I  am  ignorant  of  those 
phrases  which  are  familiar  even  to  companions  of  the  vir- 
tuosi. But  I  know  when  I  am  affected;  and  generally  I 
can  discover  what  occasions  the  feeling.  A  fine  female 
figure,  in  which  calm  dignity,  without  affectation,  and  the 
expression  of  a  noble  intellect,  were  blended  with  the  intre- 
pidity of  that  heroism  which  becomes  her  sex,  and  that 
softness  and  delicacy  which  are  compatible  with  the  strength 
and  vigor  and  healthful  firmness  of  attained  womanhood. 
A  terrific  dragon,  whose  glaring  eyeballs  showed  a  raging 
fire  that  burned  without  consuming,  its  distended  mouth 
exhibiting  a  projected  tongue  whose  point  was  formidable 
and  whose  livid  hue  denoted  the  poison  with  which  it  was 
swollen,  gave  also  to  view  its  destructive  ranges  of  teeth. 
The  vapor  which  issued  from  the  throat  of  this  monster 
seemed  pestilential  even  to  the  eye ;  and  many  a  scaly  and 
nervous  fold  was  discerned  through  the  murky  mass  which 
covered  the  abyss  that  glowed  below.  With  her  eye  steadily 
fixed  on  the  monster,  Margaret  serenely  contemplated  the 
vain  efforts  that  he  made ;  whilst  her  right  hand  steadily 
held  aloft,  even  within  his  view,  that  cross  by  which  she 
was  protected.  How  beautifully  impressive  was  the  lesson 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  317 

that  it  taught;  showing  at  once  the  violence,  the  fury,  and 
the  origin  of  passion,  and  the  facility  with  which  it  is 
overcome  by  the  powerful  application  of  the  merits  of  a 
crucified  Saviour !  The  brother  drew  aside  the  curtains 
from  the  window.  The  countenance  of  the  saint  was  mildly 
radiant;  and  the  fire  of  the  assailant  seemed  more  hot. 
Her  serenity  was  undisturbed,  her  drapery  was  exquisite. 
Hers  was  the  expression  of  that  humble  consciousness  of 
divine  support,  by  which  victory  is  felt  as  secure  even 
before  the  close  of  the  contest.  I  asked  who  was  the 
artist.  "  He  was,"  said  the  brother,  "  a  man  who  wanted 
bread.  He  had  genius,  but  he  found  no  protector.  He 
would  have  died  of  hunger,  but  for  the  canons  regular  of 
the  Lateran  Basilica;  for  such  is  our  title,  though  others 
have  been  substituted  for  us  in  that  church.  Our  commu- 
nity saved  Guercino  from  want,  and  in  return  for  the  hos- 
pitality he  received,  he  repaid  us  by  his  pencil."  "And 
this  St.  Margaret  is  by  Guercino,"  said  I. 


Leaving  the  altar  of  St.  Margaret,  we  went  towards  the 
sacristy.  The  hall  into  which  we  first  entered  had  a  finely 
paved  floor  of  large  mosaic,  many  of  the  component  parts 
of  which  were  pietra  dura,  or  precious  stone,  as  contradis- 
tinguished from  marble.  The  pavement  itself  was  that  of 
the  ancient  baths  of  Titus,  as  was  that  of  the  two  rooms 
that  served  for  the  sacristy.  To  me  the  contemplation  of 
this  floor  was  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  imperial 
wealth  and  general  luxury  of  Rome  about  eighteen  centu- 
ries ago.  Porphyry,  serpentine,  stellato  were  amongst  the 
more  ordinary  parts,  and  giallo  antico,  verde  antico,  rosso 
antico  were  in  profusion. 

My  object  was  to  see  the  place  in  which  the  chains  are 
usually  kept.  The  recess  is  about  three  feet  deep  in  the 
thickness  of  the  wall  and  carefully  lined.  It  is  over  the 
vesting  table  opposite  you  as  you  enter,  at  the  height  of 


318  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

about  six  feet  from  the  floor  to  the  sill  of  the  doors.  The 
aperture  is  about  four  feet  square  in  the  centre  of  the 
wall ;  it  is  surrounded  by  a  line  entablature  of  antique 
yellow  marble  with  its  mouldings  neatly  executed ;  at  the 
sides  are  two  Ionic  pilasters  of  Sicilian  jasper,  with  the 
caps  and  volutes  of  marble  richly  gilt.  Midway  towards 
the  angle  on  each  side  are  corresponding  marble  panels  in 
the  wall,  each  nearly  as  large  as  the  aperture.  Each  of 
these  consists  of  three  slabs  of  equal  size ;  that  in  the 
centre  is  serpentine  stellato,  with  dark  porphyry  on  either 
side.  Readers  might  not  all  know  that  this  serpentine  is 
a  stone  of  a  varied  green  color,  and  is  harder  than  mar- 
ble— therefore  it  is  called  pietra  dura,  or  hard  stone.  It 
has  the  same  quality  as  cornelian,  jasper,  etc.  When  it 
has  a  number  of  small  white  stars  it  is  called  stellato. 
This  is  rare  and  much  esteemed.  These  panels  are  sur- 
rounded by  old  mosaic. 

The  ceiling  is  vaulted,  but  the  arches  which  form  this 
vault  spring  from  the  four  sides,  and  as  the  room  is  not 
a  square  but  an  oblong  parallelogram  about  twenty  feet  by 
fifteen,  a  panel,  formed  where  the  arches  would  meet  is 
oblong  too.  Upon  this  there  is  a  fine  fresco  of  the  liberation 
of  Peter  by  the  angel.  Four  other  frescoes  surround  this 
on  the  vault ;  at  the  head  is  Peter  getting  out  of  his  boat 
to  walk  to  Jesus  whom  lie  sees  upon  the  shore ;  at  the 
foot  is  the  committal  of  Peter  to  prison  by  Herod ;  on  the 
right  is  the  death  of  Annanias  and  Sapphira;  and  on  the 
left,  the  healing  of  the  cripple  who  asked  alms  at  the 
Beautiful  Grate  of  the  temple.  At  the  angles,  niches  rise  in 
the  vaults,  in  which  appropriate  devices  are  given ;  three 
niches  also  rise  at  each  side  of  the  vault  from  the  springing 
of  the  arch.  In  the  centre  one,  over  the  recess  for  the 
preservation  of  the  relics,  is  a  fresco  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  the  others  are  occupied  by  saints.  The  remainder  of 
the  ceiling  was  decorated,  in  the  year  1500,  by  ^ucchari, 
with  sprigs  and  scrolls  after  the  manner  of  the  baths  of 
Titus;  these  are  also  colored  in  fresco  and  are  in  an  excel- 
lent state  of  preservation. 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  319" 

The  gates  of  the  recess  are  perhaps  some  of  the  best 
executed  bronzes  in  existence.  Each  gate  consists  of  three 
panels,  the  middle  one  being  the  principal ;  this  is  about 
eighteen  inches  square,  surrounded  by  a  fine  border,  with 
varied  enrichings  in  delicate  bronze.  The  subject  on  the 
one  to  your  left  as  you  examine  is  the  imprisonment  of 
Peter.  Upon  the  portion  which  exhibits  the  main  group 
there  are  at  least  seventeen  human  figures  in  various  reliefs 
and  different  attitudes;  the  whole  is  wrought  in  a  masterly 
and  delicate  style.  Herod  sits  on  his  tribunal,  with  his 
emblems  of  office;  the  seat  is  in  a  fine  niche  of  a  large- 
building.  From  the  windows  of  the  upper  floor  a  number 
of  persons  are  seen  looking  at  the  crowd  that  proceeds  from 
the  tribunal  to  the  gate  of  the  prison;  the  Apostle  is  prom- 
inent in  this  crowd,  with  an  air  of  dignified  resignation, 
approaching  the  door  into  which  the  keeper  is  thrusting  his 
ponderous  key.  In  the  background,  in  fine  perspective,  is 
seen  the  front  of  some  public  building  with  three  large- 
niches,  at  various  distances  from  the  spectator,  each  con- 
taining some  statue.  The  drapery  is  finely  wrought,  and 
on  many  of  the  figures  portions  of  it  are  remarkably  well 
gilt.  Some  of  the  persons  appear  to  stand  out  fully  sepa- 
rated from  the  panel,  whilst  little  more  than  the  outlines 
of  others  are  discernible.  On  the  oblong  panel,  over  this, 
in  the  upper  compartment,  are  two  winged  children,  one  at. 
each  extremity,  who  hold  the  ends  of  a  finely  filled  fes- 
toon of  leaves  and  flowers;  over  the  centre  of  the  festoon 
is  the  scutcheon  with  the  family  arms  of  Rovera ;  a  sort 
of  tree  with  its  branches  interwoven  at  the  top  and  the 
tiara  projecting.  On  the  lower  compartment,  which  corre- 
sponds in  size  and  shape  with  the  upper,  are  two  treesr 
one  at  each  extremity,  the  trunks  near  the  ends,  and  the 
higher  branches  extending  so  as  to  meet  nearly  at  the  top 
of  the  centre ;  under  each  tree  is  a  winged  child,  and  in 
the  centre  the  inscription  in  raised  letters :  SIXTUS  QUARTUS, 
POXTIFEX  MAXIMUS. 

On   the   corresponding   gate   to   your   right  hand  the  upper 


320  PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME. 

compartment  is  similar,  but  that  a  cardinal's  hat  supplies 
the  place  of  the  tiara.  The  only  difference  in  the  lower 
compartment  is  the  inscription,  which  is :  JULIUS  CARD. 
SANCTI  PETRI  AD  VINCULA;  SANCTJE  ROMANS  ECCLESI.E 
PCENITENTIARIUS,  MCCCCLXXVii.  The  middle  panel  is  divided 
into  three  parts.  That  on  your  right  exhibits  the  interior 
of  a  prison ;  the  Apostle  is  lying  on  the  floor,  chained  to 
a  soldier  on  each  side,  both  sleeping,  one  reclining,  the 
other  nearly  erect  and  leaning  against  an  angle.  The  angel 
is  awakening  the  Apostle;  aud  in  the  background  other 
sleepers  are  seen,  soldiers  and  prisoners  intermixed.  In  the 
centre  is  the  passage  outside  this  dungeon,  which  extends 
clown  a  good  distance  in  excellent  perspective,  with  a  statue 
in  a  niche  at  its  termination.  The  angel  leads  Peter  from 
the  dungeon,  treading  cautiously  upon  some  armor  that 
lies  scattered  over  the  floor.  The  Apostle  seems  doubting 
the  reality  of  his  delivery,  yet  is  very  careful  to  keep 
close  to  his  conductor.  The  compartment  on  the  left  is  the 
outer  wall  of  the  prison  in  which  was  the  large  iron  gate, 
opening  spontaneously  to  allow  a  passage.  After  passing 
through  this  the  Apostle  felt  assured  of  his  safety. 

The  collections  of  leaves  and  other  decorations  that  go 
around  each  gate  comprising  its  three  panels  are  wrought 
with  a  lightness  and  softness  of  appearance  equal  to  wax. 
This  is  one  of  the  chef  d'oauvres  of  the  brothers  Pullajoli, 
who  cast  the  fine  gates  of  St.  Peter's  at  the  Vatican. 
Their  remains  are  interred  in  this  church  at  the  Esquiline. 
Cardinal  Julius  Eovera  was  nephew  to  Pope  Sixtus  IV, 
and  had  this  and  other  works  executed  for  this  church, 
of  which  he  was  the  titular  cardinal-priest. 

X. 

The  respectable  abbot  of  St.  Peter's  has  kindly  furnished 
me  with  the  dissertation  which  lie  promised,  compiled  by 
one  of  his  order.  It  is  a  work  now  very  scarce,  of  about 
fifty  pages,  quarto;  a  production  which,  however,  must  have 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME.  321 

occupied  much  time,  and  required  great  patience  and  pro- 
found research.  The  writer  is  one  of  those  laborious,  en- 
lightened, judicious  and  candid  critics,  whom  the  monas- 
teries have  furnished  in  great  abundance.  He  shows  that 
it  cannot  be  distinctly  known  at  present  whether  the  church, 
which  originally  stood  upon  the  site  now  occupied  by  that 
in  which  the  chains  are  kept,  was,  as  many  authors  state, 
the  first  which  the  Apostle  Peter  dedicated  after  his  arrival 
in  Rome — and  that  hence  it  was  called,  subsequently,  and 
before  the  chains  were  placed  there,  St.  Peter's  Church. 
He  shows  that  the  chains  were,  from  the  earliest  period, 
held  in  high  estimation  in  Rome.  He  does  not,  however, 
bring  such  testimony  as  would  make  evidence  for  their 
authenticity,  unless  we  admit  one  or  more  of  the  miracles 
which  he  relates  as  wrought  by  their  means ;  and  one  at 
least  of  these  is  sustained  by  testimony  which  to  me 
appears  fully  sufficient,  making  direct  and  circumstantial  evi- 
dence abundant  for  every  person  who  has  not  determined  to 
be  incredulous.  He  avows  that  great  difficulty  and  indis- 
tinctness is  found  in  the  testimony  respecting  the  miraculous 
junction  of  the  chains  brought  from  Jerusalem  and  that 
with  which  the  Apostle  was  bound  in  Rome ;  and  states 
that  he  can  find  no  evidence  beyond  an  unsustained  and 
vague  and  imperfect  tradition.  But  respecting  the  bringing 
of  one  of  the  chains  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome,  the  testi- 
mony amounts  to  a  very  great  probability,  though  by  no 
means  sufficient  to  produce  certainty.  The  reading  of  the 
work  has,  upon  the  whole,  produced  in  my  mind  the  con- 
clusion of  the  authenticity  of  the  relic  itself;  though  I  am 
not  satisfied  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  proof  by  which  it  is 
sought  to  sustain  several  particular  statements  that  are  mat- 
ters of  pious  belief.  I  look  upon  its  preservation  and  ex- 
hibition to  public  respect  to  be  not  only  rational  and 
laudable,  but  exceedingly  useful  to  religion.  I  write  from 
my  own  experience  when  I  inform  you  that  by  it  the  un- 
derstanding is  enlightened,  the  heart  is  moved;  the  respect- 
ful recollection  of  the  Apostle  raises  the  soul  to  a  still 

21 


322  PEN  PICTURES  OF  RONE. 

higher  veneration  for  the  commission  with  which  he  was 
invested,  and  of  the  faithful  and  painful  discharge  of  whose 
duties  this  chain  is  an  enduring  witness.  He  who  contem- 
plates the  relic  upon  the  altar  and  witnesses  that  iron 
which  enclosed  the  martyr's  neck,  bows  in  silent  adoration, 
more  resigned  to  the  worldly  and  transient  afflictions  which 
Providence  allots  to  him.  The  history  of  the  saints  is  the 
justification  of  that  Providence,  which  by  some  afflictions 
subjects  to  a  penance  in  this  transient  state  and  makes 
perfect  by  tribulation  those  who,  enriched  by  grace,  are 
found  faithful  and  destined  for  glory.  Who  would  not  prefer 
to  suffer  upon  earth,  and  to  be  glorious  in  heaven  with 
Lazarus  and  with  Peter,  than  to  die  like  Dives  or  like 
Nero?  The  sumptuous  repasts  have  long  since  ceased.  The 
bright  and  delicate  vesture  has  faded  and  decayed.  The 
golden  palace  is  a  heap  of  ruins.  Ages  have  flowed  away, 
and  eternity  is  yet,  if  I  might  use  the  expression,  in  the 
very  infancy  of  its  duration.  Sorrow  is  changed  into  joy, 
and  the  instrument  of  pain,  the  badge  of  disgrace,  has 
become  the  evidence  of  fidelity,  as  it  was  the  occasion  of 
merit,  and  continues  to  be  the  emblem  of  triumph  and  the 
incitement  to  virtue.  We  feel  the  full  force  of  that  passage 
of  the  Apostle  in  which  he  says,  that  "  God  chooses  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world  that  He  might  confound  the 
wise — and  the  weak  things  of  the  world  that  He  might  con- 
found the  strong — and  the  ignoble  things  of  the  world,  and 
the  contemptible  things  of  the  world,  did  God  choose,  and 
the  things  that  are  not,  that  He  might  bring  to  nought 
the  things  that  are,  so  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  His 
sight." 

In  this  church  is  another  of  Guercino's  pieces,  which  at- 
tracted my  notice,  and  for  a  time  riveted  my  attention 
more  even  upon  the  moral  than  upon  the  production  of  the 
artist.  The  altar  over  which  it  is  placed  is  near  that  of 
the  chains;  St.  Augustine,  the  great  Bishop  of  Hippo,  is 
finely  represented  in  the  mood  of  most  intense  investigation. 
In  the  features  you  at  once  perceive  the  deep  research  and 


PEN  PICTURES  OF  ROME  323 

the  anxiety  of  inquiry ;  the  eye  would  seem  to  penetrate 
beyond  the  sphere  of  his  existence,  and  to  scrutinize  a 
world  far,  far  beyond  the  scan  of  ordinary  men.  He  is 
seated  near  the  margin  of  the  ocean  ;  and  a  beautiful  child, 
at  a  small  distance  from  the  prelate,  seems  to  be  equally 
intent  upon  his  own  occupation.  He  has  a  large  shell  with 
which  he  appears  determined  to  draw  off  the  waters  of  the 
ocean  and  to  pour  them  on  the  land. 

The  saint  relates  that  one  day  when  endeavoring  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  infinite  and  eternal  Creator, 
and  led  in  his  contemplations  to  try  find  some  objects  of 
comparison  and  to  discern  the  mode  of  the  Triune  exist- 
ence of  the  Almighty;  after  many  a  fruitless  effort,  he 
saw  that  a  child  thus  occupied  was  the  best  emblem  of 
an  aspiring  mortal  who  would  endeavor,  with  his  limited 
faculties,  to  grasp  infinity.  It  reminded  me  of  the  solemn 
and  sublime  address  of  the  Lord  Himself  to  the  wise,  the 
patient,  and  the  contemplative  Eastern : 

""When  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  made  joyful  melody,  who  shut  up  the  sea  with 
doors  when  it  broke  forth  as  issuing  out  of  the  womb? 
When  I  made  a  cloud  the  garment  thereof,  and  wrapped 
it  in  a  mist  as  in  swaddling  bands,  I  set  my  bounds 
around  it,  and  made  it  a  bar  and  doors ;  and  I  said : 
Hitherto  thou  shalt  come,  and  shalt  go  no  further,  and 
here  thou  shalt  break  thy  swelling  waves." x 

i  Job,  c.  38,  v.  7-11. 


THE   WALDENSES. 


I  HAVE  found  the  following  article  in  a  Protestant 
paper : 

"AN    OLD    CONFESSION    OF    FAITH. 

" l  Where  was  your  religion  before  Luther  ? '  is  a  stand- 
ing interrogatory,  fabricated  for  the  double  purpose  of  sus- 
taining the  pretensions  of  the  Papacy  to  universal  Catholi- 
cism, and  to  tantalize  unlettered  Protestants,  by  assuring 
them  that  their  religion  is  of  a  very  modern  origin.  The 
question,  however,  can  be  triumphantly  answered.  But,  with- 
out attempting  it  at  present,  we  shall  merely  adduce  the 
Confession  of  Faith  which  was  adopted  by  the  much-perse- 
cuted Waldenses  more  than  400  years  before  Luther. 

"  There  are  several  confessions  of  the  faith  of  these 
Christians  of  the  valleys,  some  of  them  bearing  a  very 
early  date,  still  extant.  Sir  Samuel  Morland  has  fixed  the 
date  of  the  earliest  in  the  year  1120;  it  reads  as  follows: 

"<1.  We  believe  and  firmly  maintain  all  that  is   contained 
in   the   twelve   articles    of    the    symbol,    commonly   called    the 
Apostles'    Creed,    and   we    regard    as    heretical    whatever    is 
inconsistent    with    the    said    twelve    articles.     2.  We    believe 
that    there    is    one    God,    Father,    Son,    and    Spirit.     3.  We 
acknowledge,     for     canonical     Scriptures,     the     books     of    the  I 
Holy  Bible.     (The  books  enumerated  correspond  exactly  with  ! 
our    received    canon ;    the    Apocrypha    is    excluded).     4.  The  : 
boeks    above    mentioned    teach    us    that    there    is    one    God 
Almighty,    unbounded    in   wisdom,    and    infinite    in   goodness,  i 
and   who    in    His    goodness    has    made   all    things ;    for    He ; 
created    Adam    after    His    own    image    and    likeness :     but,  '. 
through  the  enmity  of  the  devil  and  his  disobedience  Adam 

(234) 


THE   WALDENSES.  325 

fell,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  we  became  transgressors 
in  and  by  Adam.  5.  That  Christ  had  been  promised  to 
the  fathers  who  received  the  law,  to  the  end  that  knowing 
their  sin  by  the  law,  and  their  unrighteousness  and  insuf- 
ficiency, they  might  desire  the  coming  of  Christ  to  make 
satisfaction  for  their  sins  and  to  accomplish  the  law  by 
Himself.  6.  That  at  the  time  appointed  by  the  Father, 
Christ  was  born;  a  time  when  inquiry  everywhere  abounded, 
to  make  it  manifest  that  it  was  not  for  the  sake  of  any 
good  in  ourselves,  for  we  were  all  sinners,  but  that  He  who 
is  true  might  display  His  grace  and  mercy  towards  us. 
7.  That  Christ  is  our  life,  and  truth,  and  peace,  and  right- 
eousness, our  shepherd  and  our  advocate,  our  sacrifice  and 
peace,  who  died  for  the  satisfaction  of  all  who  should 
believe,  and  rose  again  for  our  justification.  8.  And  we 
also  believe,  that  there  is  no  other  mediator  or  advocate 
with  God  the  Father  but  Jesus  Christ;  and  as  tc  the 
Virgin  Mary,  she  was  holy,  humble,  and  full  of  grace. 
And  this  we  also  believe  concerning  all  other  saints,  namely, 
that  they  are  waiting  in  heaven  for  the  resurrection  of  their 
bodies  at  the  day  of  judgment.  9.  We  also  believe  that, 
after  this  life  there  are  but  two  places,  one  for  those  that 
are  saved,  the  other  for  the  damned,  which  two  we  call 
paradise  and  hell,  wholly  denying  that  imaginary  purgatory 
of  Antichrist,  invented  in  opposition  to  the  truth.  10. 
Moreover,  we  have  ever  regarded  all  the  inventions  of  men 
in  the  affairs  of  religion  as  an  unspeakable  abomination 
before  God ;  such  as  the  festival  days  and  vigils  of  saints, 
and  what  is  called  holy  water,  the  abstaining  from  flesh  on 
certain  days,  and  such  like  things ;  but,  above  all,  human 
inventions  which  produce  distress,  (probably  meaning  pen- 
ance), and  are  prejudicial  to  the  liberty  of  mind.  12.  We 
consider  the  sacraments  as  signs  of  holy  things,  or  as  the 
visible  emblems  of  invisible  blessings.  We  regard  it  as 
proper  and  even  necessary,  that  believers  use  these  symbols 
and  forms  when  it  can  be  done.  Notwithstanding  which, 
we  maintain  that  believers  may  be  saved  without  these 


326  THE  WALDENSES. 

signs  when  they  have  neither  place  nor  opportunity  of 
observing  them.  13.  We  acknowledge  no  sacrament  as  of 
divine  opportunity  but  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 
14.  We  honor  the  secular  powers  with  subjection,  obedience, 
promptitude,  and  payment.' 

"Several  subsequent  confessions  of  the  "VValaenses  are  of 
similar  tenor,  recognizing  all  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
the  Reformation  ;  but  some  parts  of  them  are  more  pointedly 
directed  against  the  errors  of  the  Romish  Church,  such  as 
the  restricting  of.  the  use  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  clergy, 
the  infallibility  of  the  Pope,  &c.  The  AValdenses  seem  at 
all  times  to  have  laid  particular  stress  upon  the  point  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  being  the  Antichrist,  the  harlot  of 
Babylon,  the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition,  spoken  of 
in  the  New  Testament  prophecies;  and  they  insisted  strenu- 
ously upon  the  necessity  of  separation  from  her  communion, 
though  they  nevertheless  inculcate  obedience  to  their  Popish 
rulers." 

Before  entering  into  the  particulars  of  this  confession,  it 
may  be  as  well,  supposing  the  truth  of  its  date,  to  consider 
its  claim  to  the  term  old.  The  present  is  the  year  1837 
from  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  that  is  to  say,  1804  from 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Christian  Church.  Now,  supposing  the  correctness  of  the 
date  fixed  by  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  1120,  this  confession  is 
717  years  old,  and  1087  years  after  the  establishment  of 
the  Church;  that  is,  370  years  nearer  to  our  day,  than  to 
that  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  no  great 
evidence  of  its  Christian  antiquity! 

Again,  it  is  said  to  be  more  than  400  years  before  Luther. 
Now  Martin  Luther  was  born  on  the  10th  of  November, 
1483,  that  is  363  years  after  the  supposed  date  of  this  con- 
fession, and  I  am  indeed  at  a  loss  to  discover  how  363  is 
more  than  400. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  writer  tells  us  that  it  is  the 
confession  of  the  Waldenses.  Everybody  knows  that  the 
Waldensca  were  so  called  because  they  were  the  disciples 


THE   1VALDENSES.  327 

and  the  followers  of  Peter  Waldo,  who  did  not  begin  to 
form  any  disciples  until  after  the  year  1160,  that  is  forty 
years  after  the  period  assigned  for  the  date  of  this  confession 
of  faith,  and  thus  the  period  of  more  than  400  years  must 
be  reduced  to  323  at  the  most  before  the  birth  of  Martin 
Luther ;  and  this  gentleman  was  not  more  than  thirty-four 
years  of  age  when  he  began  to  assail  the  Church.  I  believe 
that  it  can  be  shown  by  good  evidence  that  the  document 
called  "  The  Old  Confession  of  Faith,"  an  abstract  of  which 
is  given  above,  and  a  more  full  copy  of  which  I  have  lying 
on  the  table  before  me,  was  not  formed  until  about  twenty- 
five  years  after  the  year  11  GO,  which  would  reduce  the 
more  than  400  years  to  less  than  300  years  before  Luther. 

My  object  is  not  to  diminish  the  value  of  this  very  old 
confession,  by  detracting  from  its  antiquity,  but  to  show  the 
danger  of  loosely  dealing  in  general  assertions  when  persons 
are  treating  of  facts.  Another  object  is  to  show  the  danger 
of  trusting  to  loose  writers,  when  a  person  undertakes  to 
give  the  copy  or  even  the  substance  of  such  a  document 
as  a  confession  of  faith. 

I  shall  now  supply  a  few  omissions,  not  denying  that  in 
the  form  above  given  there  is  a  pretty  accurate  description 
of  some  of  the  articles,  but  totally  denying  that  the  formu- 
lary is  either  perfect,  complete,  adequate,  or  full,  in 
representing  the  doctrines  of  the  followers  of  Peter  "Waldo, 
at  any  moment  after  they  drew  up  anything  like  a  confession 
of  their  belief. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  above  formulary  is  taken 
from  their  book  called  "  The  Spiritual  Calendar ;"  more 
is  taken  substantially  but  not  verbally  from  the  description 
or  history  of  Perrin.  For  instance,  Article  3  is  not  taken 
exactly  as  a  copy,  but  substantially  and  not  very  accurately; 
but  Articles  12  and  14  are  literal  translations,  the  original 
of  which  we  give  as  a  literary  curiosity : 

"12.  Xos  cresen  que  li  sacrament  son  segnal  de  la  cosa 
sancta  o  forma  vesibla  de  gratia  non  vesibla,  tenent  esserbon 
que  li  fidel  uzan  alcunas  vecs  duquisti  diet  segnal,  o  forma 


328  THE  WALDEKSES. 

vesibla,  si  la  se  po  far.  Ma  impergo  nos  cresen  et  tenen 
que  li  predict  fidel  pon  esser  fait  saifs  non  recebent  li  preeict 
segnal  quand  non  han  lo  luoc,  ni  lo  modo  de  poer  uzar  de 
li  predict  segnal." 

"  14.  Nos  deven  donar,  a  la  potesta  secular,  en  subjection, 
en  obedienga,  en  prompteza  et  en  pagament." 

The  omissions  are  very  many.     I  shall  state  a  portion : 

1.  No   notice   is   taken  of  their   grand  principle  and  most 
important    charge    against    the    Catholic    Church,    viz.:     That 
she  ceased  to  be  the  Church  of  Christ  under  Pope  Sylvester, 
in    the   beginning    of    the   4th   century,    because    she   accepted 
temporal  possessions  from  the  Emperor  Constantine,  whereby, 
leaving     apostolical     simplicity   and    evangelical    poverty,    she 
became   the    conventicle  of  Satan. 

2.  No  notice  is  taken  of  their  assertion,  that  they  believed 
the    Church  was   become   the   scarlet   lady,  because   the    Pope 
and  the  prelates  in  his  communion  were  murderers,  inasmuch 
as     they   approved     of    or     at    least     permitted    the    waging 
of   war. 

3.  They  pronounced   the    Church  to  be  fallen,  because  she 
admitted   distinctions   between   her   members,   styling   some   of 
them     clergy   of    various     orders,    and    others    laity,    thereby 
destroying   their    Christian    equality. 

4.  They  condemned  the  Church  because  she  allowed  priests 
to     possess     their    family    property,    contrary    to    the    divine 
precept   in    Deuteronomy  xviii. 

5.  They   taught   that   the    Church   was    an   abomination    in 
the    eye    of    heaven,    because    its    clergy   were    permitted    to 
receive   prebends,  or    portions,  or   stipends,  or   pensions    from 
foundations    of    real    estate,    attached    to    churches,    contrary 
to   the   above   and   other   laws. 

6.  They   complained    of    the    un-Christian    conduct   of    the 
Church    in   allowing    persons   who   were   guilty   of    the    crime 
of    possessing    land,   as    property   of    their   own,    and   not   as 
that   of  the   community,  to   receive   the    sacraments. 

7.  They  taught    that   the   Church   had   grossly  erred   from 
the  true  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  having  churches  endowed 


THE  WALDENSES.  329 

with  property,  thereby  straying  from  holy  poverty  and 
deluding  the  unfortunate  persons  who  were  guilty  of  the 
crime  of  such  endowments. 

8.  They  believed    that   it   was   an    attribute   of   Antichrist 
to    leave    a    legacy   to    a    church,  and   therefore   that   it   was 
criminal    to    bequeath    and    criminal   to   receive   such   legacy. 

9.  They   did    not   consider   that   any   pastor   of   souls   was 
qualified   for    his   place    except   he   supported   himself    by   the 
labors  of  his  hands,  as  the  Apostles  did,  and  they  considered 
the  Church  which  supported  the  clergy  from  any  other  funds 
to  be  the  scarlet  lady. 

10.  They  taught,  that    there    should   be   no   distinction   of 
offices   in   the    Church,   as   it   only   favored   vanity   instead   of 
promoting   religion. 

11.  Notwithstanding    the    14th   Article,   they    professed   to 
believe    that    all    princes    and    judges    were    in    a    state    of 
damnation. 

12.  They   condemned    as    vanities    of    the    devil    all    the 
academies    or   privileged    schools    or   literary  distinctions. 

I  could  swell  the  catalogue,  but  I  have  gone  sufficiently 
far  to  show  that  the  AValdenses  would,  if  to-day  they  could 
reappear  amongst  us,  condemn  the  disciples  of  Luther  and 
of  Calvin  equally  -as  they  would  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
for  several  of  those  damnable  and  Antichristian  errors ; 
against  which  they  inveighed  in  their  day,  as  loudly  as 
those  do  who,  without  holding  their  principles,  claim  them 
as  their  predecessors,  and  who  undertake  to  condemn  us 
also  to-day. 

I  have  given  the  above  abstract  of  some  omissions  to 
the  alleged  copy  of  the  confession  of  the  AValdenses  proper. 

But  were  I  to  follow  up  the  peculiarities  of  the  sects 
into  which  this  offset  from  the  Church  divided  in  a  few 
years  after  its  separation  from  the  Catholic  body,  I  could 
indeed  fill  many  sheets. 

The  AValdenses  proper  were  frequently  designated  Leon- 
ists,  from  the  city  of  Lyons,  where  they  had  their  origin,  as 
they  were  also  called  Poor  Men  of  Lyons,  from  their  profes- 


330  THE  WALDENSES. 

.sion  of  evangelical  poverty  and  declaiming  against  riches 
and  the  possession  of  private  property.  They  had  various 
other  names  from  the  places  of  their  abode  and  remarkable 
leaders ;  Good  Men,  from  their  sanctimonious  appearance 
and  contempt  for  luxury  and  wealth. 

They   branched    chiefly   into   the    following   sects : 

1.  Sciscidents,   who    contended    for    the    necessity   of  receiv- 
ing  the    Eucharist,    and    approached    nearer   to    the    Catholic 
doctrine   respecting   the   nature    of  this    sacrament. 

2.  Ortlibens,    who    professed    the    doctrines    correctly,    but 
gave   mystic   interpretations  by  which  they  evaded   their  true 
sense.     They,    amongst    other    curious    notions,    believed   that 
there   was   no    Trinity   previous   to    the   incarnation,    and  that 
Jesus  was   the   son  of  Joseph;    that  marriage  was   good,  but 
its    use   was    criminal.     They   looked    for   the    judgment    and 
the   millennium   upon   the   conversion   of    the   Pope   and    the 
•emperor. 

3.  The    Ordibarists,    besides    some    of   the    above    notions, 
believed   that  the    Trinity  was   to   be   found   in  the    members 
of  their    society. 

4.  The    Cathari,    or    Puritans,   who,    amongst   a    variety    of 
•other   peculiar    errors,    considered    this   world    to    have    been 
created   by  the   devil,  looked   upon   marriage  to   be  criminal, 
as   also   the    eating    of    meet,    of    eggs,    or   of    cheese,    under 
any    circumstances.     This    division    soon    became    subdivided 
into   Albanians    and    Bagnolensians,   whose   errors    I   do    not 
notice. 

5.  The    Paterinians,  who   admitted   Lucifer  only  as   a   sub- 
creator,    and    had   strange    notions    of  marriage. 

6.  The     Passagenians,     who,     amongst    other    peculiarities, 
considered   the   ritual    portion   of    the   Jewish    law    obligatory 
upon    Christians. 

I  could  enumerate  at  least  a  dozen  more,  down  to  the 
Lollards;  but  I  have  far  exceeded  the  limits  I  proposed 
to  observe  in  this  article. 

The  Bohemian  remnant  of  this  sect  presented  its  confes- 
sion of  faith  to  Ferdinand,  King  of  the  Romans  and  of 


THE  WALDENSES.  331 

hernia,    in     1538,    but    it    is    very    greatly    altered    from 

at  produced  by  the  writer  under  review,  in  many  very 
capital  points,  especially  where  in  its  thirteenth  article  it 
treats  of  the  nature  of  the  Eucharist.  Luther  praises  it, 
because  it  expresses  the  doctrines  of  the  real  presence,  as 
does  also  the  formulary  which  they  sent  to  Hungary  to 
King  Ladislaus.  Melanchthon  and  Bucer  eulogize  it  also. 
Calvin,  however,  was  by  no  means  content  with  their  decla- 
rations, and  even  in  1560  his  answer  to  two  of  their 
messengers  was,  that  their  confession  of  faith,  as  it  stood, 
could  not  be  received  or  subscribed  with  safety. 

This  effort  respecting  the  Waldenses  is  always  full  of 
trouble  and  perplexity  to  those  who  have  essayed  to  obtain 
a  semblance  of  antiquity  by  claiming  these  Poor  Men  of 
Lyons  for  their  predecessors  in  the  faith.  This  mode  of 
stopping  even  at  1120  is  unsatisfactory  and  useless.  The 
best  and  wisest  course  is  to  go  up  to  the  days  of  the 
Apostles  at  once.  Moore,  in  his  "  Travels  of  an  Irish 
Gentleman  in  Search  of  a  Religion,"  furnishes  the  entire 
evidence  in  chapter  xxvii,  and  shows  that  Simon  Magus 
held  some  of  those  tenets  which,  after  having  been  occa- 
sionally forgotten  and  revived,  are  contained  in  that  con- 
fession of  faith  which  the  Waldenses  published  about  eleven 
centuries  later.  A  few  more  of  the  articles  are  shown  by 
the  same  author  in  chapter  xxii  and  xxiii  to  have  been 
known  at  even  an  earlier  period,  for  some  were  professed 
at  Capharnaum  in  the  Saviour's  presence,  in  this  simple 
phrase :  "  How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  ? 
This  saying  is  hard,  and  who  can  bear  it?" 

Should  any  of  them  ask  this  writer,  "  Where  was  your 
religion  before  Luther  ? "  I  have  no  doubt  but  by  the  aid 
of  a  little  industry  he  could  triumphantly  answer,  that  it 
existed  in  scattered  portions  through  various  ages,  from  the 
days  of  the  Apostles.  As  for  my  part,  he  may  calculate 
upon  my  poor  assistance,  should  he  need  it. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCHES. 


DENMARK. 

THIS  country  is  a  portion  of  that  large  tract  formerly 
known  by  the  name  of  Scandinavia,  and  was,  about  the 
close  of  the  seventh  century,  given  its  modern  appellation.1 

Hume,  who  is  certainly  one  of  the  worst  authorities  we 
know,  where  religion  is  even  incidentally  concerned,  states 
that  "the  Emperor  Charlemagne,  though  naturally  generous 
and  humane,  had  been  induced  by  bigotry  to  exercise  great 
severities  upon  the  pagan  Saxons  in  Germany,  whom  he 
had  subdued ;  and,  besides  often  ravaging  their  country 
with  fire  and  sword,  he  had,  in  cold  blood,  decimated  all 
the  inhabitants  for  their  revolts,  and  had  obliged  them,  by 
the  most  rigorous  edicts,  to  make  a  seeming  compliance  with 
the  Christian  doctrines." 

My  object,  at  present,  is  not  to  examine  critically  How 
many  falsehoods  are  contained  in  the  paragraph  which  I 
have  quoted,  but  I  distinctly  assert  that  it  was  neither 
religion  nor  bigotry  that  caused  this  monarch  to  inflict 
severites  upon  the  pagan  Saxons,  but  their  frequent  rebel- 
lions, or,  as  Hume  calls  it,  "revolts,"  and  the  perpetual 
guilt  of  persecution  and  plunder  of  Christians  in  their 
vicinity,  who  were  his  subjects,  and  whom  he  was  bound 
by  every  law,  human  and  divine,  to  protect.  Mr.  Hume 
frequently  lays  before  his  readers  facts  without  stating  their 
true  cause,  and  many  of  his  readers  take  the  causes  upon 
his  authority  as  they  find  the  facts  generally  admitted  and 
incontrovertible.  Thus  he  is  guilty  of  deceit,  not  exactly  by 
forging  facts,  but  by  misstating  their  causes  and  their 
consequences. 

>  See  Horn's  "Scandinavian  Literature."   This  work  was  published  in  Chicago,  1884. 

(332) 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-DENMARK.  333 

I  have  read  the  edicts  of  Charlemagne,  and  must  say, 
that  I  cannot  discover  one  which  obliges  the  pagan  Saxons 
to  a  seeming  or  a  real  compliance  with  the  Christian  doc- 
trine ;  and  I  am  under  the  impression  that  such  edicts, 
rigorous  or  otherwise,  cannot  be  in  existence,  because  we 
do  find  others  in  existence  with  which  they  would  be 
incompatible.  The  fact  is,  many  other  critics  whose  sagacity 
was  equal  to  Hume's,  whose  information  was  at  least 
equally  accurate,  and  who,  though  they  differed  in  religion 
as  much  from  Charlemagne  as  did  Mr.  Hume,  had  much 
less  virulent  bigotry  than  he  had.  Bigotry  is  not  confined 
to  one  side  of  a  question.  Those  men  give  the  true  cause 
for  the  severity,  perhaps  cruelty,  of  the  monarch :  "  He 
could  place  no  dependence  upon  their  promises  nor  their 
oaths ;  and  the  moment  his  forces  were  withdrawn,  after 
the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  to  observe  which  they  had  sworn, 
they  were  again  in  arms."  How  would  General  Jackson 
treat  such  uersons  ?  The  cases  are  parallel.  Is  Jackson  a 
bigot  ?  * 

Those  Saxons  retired  into  Jutland  and  the  isles  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Baltic,  and,  to  use  the  words  of  Hume, 
"  meeting  there  with  a  people  of  similar  manners,  they 
were  readily  received  amongst  them ;  and  they  soon  stim- 
ulated the  natives  to  concur  in  enterprises  which  both 
promised  revenge  upon  the  haughty  conqueror" — who 
informed  Hume  that  Charlemagne  was  haughty? — "and 
afforded  subsistence  to  those  numerous  inhabitants  with 
which  the  northern  countries  were  now  overburdened." 

This  was  the  origin  of  the  Danish  invasions.  Their 
first  descent  upon  England  was  in  the  year  787.  In  794, 
they  made  another  incursion  upon  Northumberland.  Poor, 
innocent,  harmless  beings !  "Would  it  not  be  the  excess  of 
bigotry  to  punish  them  because  they  were  pagans,  particu- 
larly as  the  executioners  of  vengeance  must  necessarily  be 
Roman  Catholics?  In  832,  they  began  more  formidable 

i  An  allusion  to  President  Jackson's  treatment  of  the  American  aborigines.    The 
words  are  quoted  from  one  of  his  despatches  . 


334  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— DENMARK. 

and  systematic  invasions ;  and,  by  Mr.  Hume's  reasoning, 
to  oppose  their  burning  the  country,  their  rapine,  their 
abuse  of  women,  their  enslaving  or  massacre  of  men,  particu- 
larly of  nuns  or  monks,  would  be  unpardonable  bigotry. 
Yet  Hume  calls  them  pirates ! 

It  was  no  easy  matter  to  convert  this  people ;  but  witn 
God's  assistance,  their  conversion  was  effected  —  not  by 
rigorous  edicts,  but  by  mild  and  apostolic  preaching. 

In  the  year  822,  St.  Adelard,  Abbot  of  Old  Corbie,  and 
cousin-german  of  Charlemagne,  founded  the  abbey  of  New 
Corbie,  otherwise  Corwey,  upon  the  Weser,  about  nine 
miles  from  the  city  of  Paderborn,  and  established  very 
regular  discipline  therein.  Amongst  the  monks  who  came 
hither  from  Old  Corbie  in  France  was  one  named  Anscha- 
rius,  called  by  the  Germans  Sharies,  and  by  the  French 
Ansgar.  He  was  sent  with  a  number  of  missionaries  into 
Jutland  and  other  parts  of  Scandinavia,  and  their  preaching 
was  eminently  successful.  They  were  favored  by  Harald, 
a  prince  of  Denmark,  who  had  been  baptized  in  the  court 
of  Louis  Debonnaire.  In  832,  Anscharius  was  made  Arch- 
bishop of  Hamburg  and  Legate  Apostolic  by  Pope  Gregory 
IV.  In  845,  the  Normans  and  Danes,  in  an  irruption, 
burned  the  city  of  Hamburg,  and  in  849,  the  See  of 
Bremen  becoming  vacant,  the  Pope  united  that  of  Hamburg 
thereto,  and  made  St.  Anscharius  archbishop  of  the  two. 
The  more  northern  regions  having  relapsed  into  idolatry, 
the  saint  made  new  efforts  for  their  conversion,  which  were 
more  permanently  successful.  He  was  greatly  aided  by  the 
exertions  of  Ebbo,  Archbishop  of  Rheims.  The  first  bishop 
of  Bremen  was  St.  Wilchad,  an  Englishman,  a  native  of 
Northumberland,  who  was  the  first  Christian  missionary  that 
passed  the  Elbe.  He  died  in  789  or  790. 

St.  Rembert,  a  native  of  Flanders,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bruges,  succeeded  St.  Anscharius  in  the  See  of  Bremen, 
in  the  year  865.  He  made  great  progress  in  spreading 
the  faith  in  Denmark,  and  likewise  began  the  conversion 
of  the  Sclavi  or  Vandals  and  of  the  Brandenburghers.  He 
died  on  the  llth  of  June,  888. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-DENMARK.  335- 

King  Eric  I  was  baptized  in  826.  One  of  his  successors, 
Swein  or  Sweno  II  apostatized,  but  his  successor  Knut  or 
Canute  II,  surnamcd  the  Great,  who  also  succeeded  Edmond 
Ironside  on  the  throne  of  England  in  1017,  became  a 
Catholic.  In  his  reign  many  of  his  followers  embraced 
Christianity  in  England,  and  many  of  the  English  eccle- 
siastics labored  upon  the  Danish  mission.  Amongst  these 
latter  was  St.  William,  who  had  been  chaplain  to  Canute, 
and  was  afterwards  Bishop  of  Roschild,  in  the  isle  of 
Zealand.  Upon  the  death  of  Canute,  he  was  succeeded  in 
his  Danish  dominions  by  his  son  Swein,  whom  the  bishop 
had  more  than  once  to  reprove  for  his  choler  and  injustice, 
but  who,  entering  into  himself,  was  subsequently  not  only 
religious,  but  greatly  useful  in  the  propagation  of  the  faith. 
St.  AVilliam  and  he  both  died  and  were  buried  in  Eoschild, 
in  the  year  1067. 

About  two  centuries  later,  St.  Hyacinth,  a  member  of  the 
illustrious  house  of  the  counts  of  Oldrovens,  one  of  the 
most  noble  in  Silesia,  son  of  Count  Konski,  and  born  in 
the  castle  of  Saxony,  in  1185,  and  who  was  also  one  of 
the  first  members  of  the  Dominican  Order,  having  received 
the  habit  from  St.  Dominic  himself  in  Rome,  in  the  month 
of  March,  1218,  was  a  zealous  apostle  of  this  nation.  The 
faith  flourished  therein,  from  its  first  planting  and  increase, 
as  has  been  mentioned,  until  the  anarchy  and  divisions  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

In  the  year  1518,  Christian  II  was  King  of  Denmark; 
he  was  a  tyrannical,  ambitious,  unprincipled  monarch,  and 
particularly  aimed  at  getting  possession  of  the  crown  of 
Sweden.  Stenon,  the  Swedish  king,  suspected  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Upsal  and  other  prelates  of  his  dominions  of 
being  favorable  to  the  views  of  Christian,  who  in  the  next 
year  invaded  Sweden  and  got  possession  of  the  throne.  His 
cruelties  were  excessive.  This  man  added  hypocrisy  and 
sacrilege  to  his  murders  and  usurpations.  Driven  from 
Stockholm,  the  Danish  king  no  longer  concealed  his  senti- 
ments, but  made  open  profession  of  his  attachment  to  the 


336  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— DENMARK. 

Lutheran  cause.  He  was  rejected  by  Denmark,  his  uncle 
Frederic,  the  Duke  of  Holstein,  having  been  raised  to  the 
throne.  Christian  took  refuge  in  Holland,  whence  he 
returned  with  an  army  to  regain  the  throne,  in  1531 ;  but 
being  defeated  and  taken,  he  was  cast  into  prison,  where  he 
died  in  the  year  1559.  Stenon  having  died  in  1520,  of  a 
wound  received  in  battle,  Gustavus,  the  son  of  Eric  Vasa, 
was  chosen  king  of  Sweden. 

In  Denmark,  the  new  monarch,  Frederic,  introduced 
Lutheranism,  and  proscribed  and  persecuted  the  Catholics. 
He  died  in  1535,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Chris- 
tian III,  a  good  and  moderate  king,  with  the  exception  of 
his  following  the  example  of  his  father  in  the  attempts  to 
eradicate  the  Catholic  religion  by  violence.  Having  founded 
a  college  at  Copenhagen,  and  greatly  encouraged  learning, 
he  died  in  1559,  and  was  succeeded  by  Frederic  II.  Very 
few  of  the  inhabitants  preserved  their  faith,  and  the  number 
of  clergymen  were  almost  brought  to  nothing;  the  stragglers 
who  lay  hid  in  the  country  could  seldom  be  discovered. 

Somewhat  more  than  a  century  later,  an  eminent  Danish 
gentleman  named  Nicholas  Stenon,  who  was  born  in  Copen- 
hagen in  the  year  1638,  was  famous  in  Italy  for  his 
knowledge,  particularly  in  medicine  and  anatomy.  He  resided 
at  the  court  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  in  the  year 
1670.  His  parents  had  been  Lutherans,  and  he  was  himself 
educated  in  that  sect,  and  imbibed  the  strongest  prejudices 
against  Catholics ;  but  finding  by  his  intercourse  with  them 
and  his  closer  reading  and  observation,  that  his  notions  of 
their  belief  and  practice  were  altogether  erroneous,  his  pre- 
judices yielded  to  his  judgment,  and  he  some  time  after- 
wards became  a  Roman  Catholic.  Christian  V,  successor 
of  Frederic  III,  was  then  King  of  Denmark,  and  being 
zealous  for  the  improvement  of  the  college  of  Copenhagen, 
lie  insisted  upon  the  return  thither  of  Mr.  Stenon,  to  fill 
the  chair  of  anatomy,  promising  that  he  should  be  undis- 
turbed on  the  score  of  religion.  Mr.  Stenon  went  thither, 
but  soon  found  that  public  prejudice  was  more  powerful 


HISTORICAL   SKETCHES— SWEDEN.  337 

than  the  protection  of  a  monarch.  He  returned  into  Italy, 
and,  in  the  year  1677,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Titi- 
opolis,  in  partibus,  and  appointed  by  Innocent  XI  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  the  northwest  of  Europe.  His  principal  resi- 
dence was  at  Hamburg.  He  died  at  Schwerin,  in  Mecklen- 
burg, on  the  24th  of  November,  1686,  after  having  effected 
much  good.  He  paid  as  much  attention  as  his  means 
would  admit  or  their  wants  acquired  to  the  few  Catholics 
that  were  still  found  in  his  native  country,  and  it  is  only 
in  the  same  way  they  have  been  as  yet  looked  after, 
though  their  numbers  are  now  greatly  increased  and  the 
profession  of  their  religion  is  in  a  large  degree  sanctioned. 
The  total  population  of  Denmark  is  stated  at  present  at 
1,565,000  of  whom  the  Catholics  are  upwards  of  60,000, 
perhaps  65,000.  But  as  the  religion  is  now  and  has  been 
of  late  making  considerable  progress,  the  number  at  present 
is  much  greater  than  formerly. 


SWEDEN. 

Tins  large  tract  of  country  was  but  little  known,  and 
we  believe  thinly  inhabited,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  era.  All  to  the  north  of  Germany  was,  we  may 
say,  undiscovered,  certainly  unexplored.  It  was  not  until 
the  arms  of  Charlemagne  had  struck  terror  into  the  northern 
barbarians,  that  it  was  safe  to  go  amongst  them. 

In  my  account  of  Denmark,  I  mentioned  the  elevation  of 
St.  Anscharius  to  the  See  of  Bremen  and  to  legatine  authority. 
About  the  year  830  the  King  of  Sweden  sent  to  Louis 
Debonnaire  for  missionaries  to  preach  Christianity  amongst 
his  subjects.  St.  Anscharius,  then  a  monk  at  New  Corbie, 
and  Vitmar,  another  of  the  same  house,  were  selected  for  that 
purpose,  and  had  books  and  ornaments  to  present  from  the 
emperor  to  the  king.  Anscharius  had  been  previously  in 
Denmark,  where  he  had  planted  the  faith.  On  their  voy- 
age they  were  plundered  by  pirates,  and  arrived  quite 
22 


338  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES— SWEDEN. 

destitute  at  Biorc,  then  the  capital  of  Sweden,  and  the 
principal  harbor  and  royal  residence.  Upsal  was,  at  that- 
time,  a  considerable  city;  but  its  site  was  much  nearer 
to  where  Stockholm  now  is  than  to  where  the  present  city 
of  Upsal  is  built.  Biorc  is  described  as  being  situated 
upon  an  island  two  days'  sail  from  Upsal ;  and  we  sup- 
pose it  must  be  that  island  which  is  now  called  "Waxholm,, 
at  the  mouth  .of  Lake  Melar.  Being  received  kindly  by 
the  king,  they  preached  with  great  success,  and  found  a 
considerable  number  of  Christian  slaves,  who  were  delighted 
at  the  opportunity  of  receiving  the  sacraments,  of  which 
they  had  long  been  deprived.  Herigar',  governor  of  the 
capital,  an  intimate  friend  of  the  monarch,  was  converted 
at  an  early  period,  and  greatly  aided  their  exertions. 

Anscharius,  when  raised  to  the  See  of  Bremen,  about  the 
year  850,  sent  missionaries  to  revive  the  spirit  which  hadr 
during  some  years,  slumbered  in  Sweden ;  and  then,  by 
his  own  presence,  roused  it  to  energy  and  activity.  The 
good  work  was  continued  by  his  successor,  St.  Rembert. 

Again,  in  or  about  the  year  925,  Hunni,  Archbishop  of 
Bremen,  arriving  at  Birca,  which  we  suppose  to  be  the 
same  as  Biorc,  found  but  one  priest  remaining  in  Sweden; 
during  the  short  and  bloody  reigns  of  the  monarchs  in  the 
preceding  sixty  years,  religion  had  been  nearly  forgotten. 
He  died  during  his  apostolic  labors  in  that  country,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  archbishopric  of  Bremen  by  St- 
Adaldagus,  who  filled  that  see  during  fifty-four  years,  and 
greatly  promoted  the  conversion  of  the  Swedes,  and  estab- 
lished some  sees  amongst  them.  Odincar,  the  elder,  a 
religious  Dane,  and  his  nephew,  of  the  same  name,  Bishop 
of  Ripa,  in  Jutland,  and  one  of  the  royal  race  of  Denmark, 
who  was  consecrated  by  Libentius,  Archbishop  of  Bremen, 
about  the  year  1000,  labored  much  also  in  the  conversion  of 
Sweden. 

Nearly  sixty  years  before  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Odincar, 
King  Olas  Scobcong  had  requested  the  British  King  Edred 
to  procure  some  missionaries  for  Sweden.  Sigefride,  an 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-SWEDEN.  339 

eminent  priest  of  York,  in  England,  undertook  the  task ; 
and  on  the  21st  of  June,  950,  he  arrived  at  Wexio,  in 
the  territory  of  Smaland,  in  Gothland.  Twelve  of  the  prin- 
cipal inhabitants  of  this  district  were  his  first  converts.  St. 
Sigefride  had  received  episcopal  consecration  before  his  arrival 
in  Sweden  and  ample  missionary  powers,  by  virtue  of  which 
he  was  enabled  to  erect  new  sees  and  to  fill  them.  He 
erected  the  Sees  of  Lingkopping  in  West  Gothland  and  Skara 
in  East  Gothland.  He  then  appointed  his  nephew  Uduman 
to  take  charge  of  his  See  of  Wexio,  and  went  farther  north. 
He  baptized  King  Olas  and  his  household  and  his  army, 
established  the  See  of  Strengues,  and  restored  that  of  Upsal, 
which  had  been  founded  by  St.  Anscharius.  During  his 
absence  from  Wexio,  the  idolaters  plundered  the  ehurch,  and 
murdered  Uduman  and  his  two  brothers,  Sunaman  a  deacon, 
and  Wiamar  a  sub-deacon.  St.  Sigefride  having  returned  to 
Wexio,  prevailed  on  the  king  to  spare  the  lives  of  the 
murderers,  and  refused  to  accept  a  fine  which  was  levied 
upon  them ;  and  having  re-established  his  church  he  died, 
and  was  buried  in  his  cathedral  in  the  year  1002. 

The  faith  was  propagated  in  another  part  of  Sweden,  soon 
after,  by  St.  Eskill,  an  Englishman,  who  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Xordhans  Kogh,  and  martyred  by  the  pagans  at 
Strengis.  Adelbert,  Archbishop  of  Bremen,  and  Sweyn  II, 
King  of  Denmark,  did  much  in  this  century  to  extend  the 
reign  of  truth  in  Sweden. 

In  the  year  1148,  St.  Henry,  an  Englishman,  who 
had  labored  strenuously  on  the  Swedish  and  other  northern 
missions,  together  with  his  countryman,  Cardinal  Nicholas 
Breakspear,  apostolic  legate,  and  afterwards  Pope  Adrian 
IV,  did  much  to  confirm  and  to  establish  the  faith. 

Upsal  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  an  archbishopric 
during  the  incumbency  of  Stephen,  its  sixth  bishop  and 
first  archbishop;  and  in  1160,  Pope  Alexander  III  created 
the  archbishop  of  that  see  metropolitan  and  primate  of  the 
Swedish  Church.  We  may,  at  this  period,  consider  Sweden 
as  fully  converted. 


340  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 

In  the  year    1517    the  persons   commissioned  by  the    Pope 
to  preach  up  indulgences  for  the   contribution  towards   build- 
ing   the    Church    of    St.    Peter's    in    Koine    were    guilty    of 
great    excesses    and    extortions    in     Sweden.     Angus    Arcem- 
boldi,  Legate  of  the  North,  was  the  chief  commissioner  there, 
and   had   the    sanction    of    Stenon,    administrator,    claiming   to 
be    King   of  Sweden.     In   an    interview   with   that  ruler,    the 
legate    attempted    to    reconcile    him   to    Gustavus    Troil,  Arch- 
bishop   of    Upsal;    but   Stenon    gave    him   sufficient    reasons 
to  justify   his    distrust   in    Gustavus,   and   showed   the   proba- 
bility  of    the    prelate's    holding    an   improper    correspondence 
with    Christian   II   of  Denmark,   well  known  by  the  appella- 
tion   of    the   Nero   of    the    North,    and   who    wished    to    con- 
firm   his    authority    in    Sweden.     The    Danish    king    having 
manifested    his    hostility,    Stenon   had  the    Primate    of    Upsal 
tried   by   the   senate,    and    being    convicted,    he   was  deprived 
of  his    revenues    and   confined   in   a   monastery.     The    prelate 
had   privately  made  an  appeal  to    Rome,   in  which  he  stated 
his    case    to    be    one    of    great     hardship.      Arccmboldi     was 
instructed    to    demand    his    release    and    restitution.      Stenon 
and   the  senate  refused;    upon  which   Leo  X  placed  Sweden 
under    an    interdict,    and    excommunicated     Stenon    and    the 
senate.     The   Archbishop    of    Lunden,    in    Holstein,    and    the 
Bishop    of  OJcnsea   were    charged    with   the    execution ;    and 
Christian    of   Denmark,    who    hypocritically    appeared    to    be 
still   a    Catholic,  though    in   truth   a    Lutheran,  was    requested 
to    aid    them.     Stenon    now    seized    upon    the    money   which 
had    been    collected    for    Arcemboldi,    and    a    new   excommu- 
nication followed ;    and  Christian,  who   longed  for  the  oppor- 
tunity,   entered    Sweden    at    the    head   of    his    army.     Stenon 
died    lighting   at  the  head   of  his  troops.     Christian  got  pos- 
session   of    the    capital.     The    archbishop    was    released    and 
reinstated    in    his    revenues.     The    bloody    Christian    treacher- 
ously  seized    upon    and    put    to    death    in    one    day,    at   an 
entertainment   where   all    appeared    to    be    peace   and    amity, 
the    principal    lords    of  Sweden.     He    then,  at   the    instigation 
of  the    Primate    of  Upsal,  required  the   two   prelate    commis- 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-SWEDEN.  341 

sioncrs  to  investigate  the  proceedings  under  which  the  pri- 
mate had  been  originally  punished;  but,  as  their  proceedings 
were  too  slow,  he  of  his  own  authority  condemned  and 
executed  ninety-six  senators  who  survived,  and  amongst  whom 
.  were  the  Bishops  of  Stremgncn  and  Skara.  The  prior  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  manifested  most  patriotism, 
was  fastened  to  a  St.  Andrew's  Cross,  embowelled,  and  his 
heart  torn  out.  The  bodies  were  then  ranged  in  a  line, 
and  all  the  heads  raised  on  spears;  after  which  the  soldiers 
were  let  loose  upon  the  populace.  Next  day  an  amnesty 
was  published,  but  violated  as  soon  as  the  people  made 
their  appearance.  Christian  then  invited  to  a  conference  six 
bishops  who  had  refused  to  assist  at  his  Swedish  corona- 
tion ;  and  they,  imagining  that  peace  was  at  length  to  be 
given,  met  him — they  were  seized  upon  and  burned.  This 
caused  so  general  an  insurrection  that  the  tyrant  fled.  Hav- 
ing left  Sweden,  he  made  open  profession  of  Lutheranism. 

Olaus  Petri  had  already  introduced  the  novel  doctrines 
amongst  the  Swedes.  Gustavus,  the  Son  of  Eric  Vasa, 
Duke  of  Gripsholm,  had,  after  a  variety  of  difficulties  and 
extraordinary  escapes,  found,  amongst  the  hardy  miners  of 
Dalecarlia,  a  patriotic  spirit.  He  began  the  liberation  of 
his  country  with  his  little  band ;  his  standard  soon  floated 
victorious  and  overshadowed  multiplied  thousands.  Gustavus 
Ericson,  or  Vasa,  was  chosen  king.  He  wanted  money: 
Olaus  informed  him  that,  according  to  the  Lutheran  prin- 
ciples, it  was  lawful  to  take  away  what  was  possessed  by 
the  monasteries,  and  to  reduce  the  income  of  the  parish 
churches.  Gustavus,  who  had,  during  his  captivity  in  Den- 
mark, been  predisposed  to  this  new  system,  began  to  pave 
the  way  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  but  met  considerable 
opposition  from  the  fe\v  bishops  that  still  remained  in 
Sweden ;  thenceforward,  Gustavus  encouraged  the  Lutheran 
preachers. 

Pope  Adrian  YI  sent,  as  his  legate  to  Gustavus,  John 
Magni,  an  eminent  and  highly  informed  Swedish  ecclesiastic. 
The  king  received  him  kindly,  and  prevailed  upon  him  to 


342  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— SWEDEN. 

accept  the  primacy  which  was  now  vacant,  by  the  degra- 
dation and  banishment  of  the  late  unprincipled  incumbent. 
The  new  primate  soon  perceived  the  true  object  at  which 
the  king  aimed,  for  it  had  been  proposed  to  him  to  con- 
voke a  synod  and  to  establish  the  Lutheran  doctrine.  The 
primate  was  not  a  man  to  betray  his  charge,  but  he  saw 
he  could  not  avert  the  storm ;  he,  therefore,  returned  to 
Rome. 

In  the  year  1527  the  king  assembled  the  senate  at 
Upsal,  and  subsequently  at  Arosen ;  at  which  meeting  he 
declared,  that  unless  they  abolished  the  religion  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  See,  he  would  abdicate :  and  that 
the  revenues  of  the  State  demanded  the  confiscation  of  the 
Churchlands  and  property.  Though  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  legislature  was  composed  of  Roman  Catholics,  they 
were  awed  into  acquiescence  to  his  demands.  He  left  what 
he  called  liberty  of  conscience.  The  spirit  of  Dalecarlia 
was  still  unbroken ;  and  this  brave  people,  being  all  Roman 
Catholics,  they  took  up  arms  to  oppose  the  invasion  of 
their  rights  of  conscience  and  the  plunder  of  the  property 
consecrated  to  the  support  of  their  pastors,  by  him  whom 
they  had  borne  on  their  shoulders  to  victory  and  to  a 
throne.  Gustavus,  after  having  subdued  them,  treated  the 
Dalecarlians  in  the  most  severe  and  cruel  manner,  because 
they  did  not  choose  to  change  their  religion. 

In  1542  the  king  procured  from  the  general  assembly 
the  nomination  of  his  son  Eric  as  his  successor,  and  the 
regulation  that  the  crown  should  be  hereditary;  he  also 
caused  them  to  swear  to  the  maintenance  of  Lutheranism, 
without  tolerating  any  other  religion.  He  had  previously 
ran  through  the  provinces  at  the  head  of  a  large  body 
of  cavalry,  extirpating  Catholicity. 

The .  Lutheranism  which  he  established  has,  in  its  exter- 
nal appearance  and  discipline,  more  affinity  to  the  Catholic 
religion  than  any  other  sort  of  the  new  system.  There  are 
archbishops,  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons ;  their  liturgy  very 
much  resembles  that  of  Rome,  and  they  have  confession 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-SWEDEN.  343 

and     absolution     and     penance,     but     the     confession     is     not 
always    private. 

Eric  XIV  succeeded,  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  Gus- 
tavus,  in  1560,  but  his  conduct  was  that  of  a  madman. 
He  was  deposed  in  1568  for  a  variety  of  cruelties,  and 
his  attempt  at  raising  Catherine,  one  of  his  concubines,  who 
had  been  a  fruit-girl  in  Stockholm,  to  the  dignity  of  queen. 

His  brother,  John  III,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  He 
was  married  to  Catherine,  of  the  Jaggelon  family,  daughter 
to  Sigismund,  King  of  Poland.  This  queen  was  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  her  husband  having  made  a  profession  of 
that  faith,  in  presence  of  Father  Posse vin,  a  Jesuit,  was 
•desirous  of  having  his  dominions  reconciled  to  the  Holy 
See.  For  this  purpose  he  sent  Pontus  de  la  Gardie  to 
Home  with  proposals  of  reunion;  but  the  Swedish  nobility 
gave  their  decided  opposition  to  the  measure,  though  many 
of  the  clergy  had  manifested  their  anxiety  to  co-operate 
•with  the  king.  The  project  was  unsuccessful,  but  a  num- 
ber of  priests  gained  admittance  into  Sweden,  and  were 
able  to  console  and  to  administer  to  the  scattered  members 
of  the  Church  who  were  in  the  country.  The  queen  died, 
leaving  only  one  son,  Sigismund,  who  adhered  to  the 
religion  of  his  parents,  and  obtained  the  crown  of  Poland; 
though  he  lost  that  of  Sweden,  on  account  of  his  religion, 
through  the  intrigues  of  his  uncle,  Charles  IV,  son  of 
Gustavus,  who  procured  the  deposition  of  Sigismund,  and 
his  own  appointment,  under  the  title  of  Charles  IX.  He 
is  mentioned  in  high  terms  of  commendation  by  some  of 
the  early  Protestant  writers,  for  having,  through  religious 
zeal,  supplanted  his  nephew  and  usurped  his  throne. 

Christina  succeeded  her  father,  the  renowned  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  the  head  of  the  Protestant  League,  upon  his  death 
in  1654,  in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  her  age.  This  extra- 
ordinary woman  resigned  her  throne,  and  abjured  the  religion 
she  had  previously  professed,  embracing  the  doctrines  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  Hitherto,  the  renowned  and  learned 
daughter  of  the  great  Gustavus  had  been  the  object  of 


344  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 

admiration  and  of  eulogy,  the  pride  of  the  north.  But  now, 
the  most  scrutinizing  criticism,  pried  into  all  her  conduct, 
and  doubts  as  to  whether  she  were  really  a  great  woman 
began  to  be  entertained;  and  it  was  stated,  aye,  seriously 
stated,  that  it  was  not  because  she  believed  in  the  truth 
of  those  doctrines,  to  profess  which  she  renounced  a  throne, 
that  she  changed  her  religion,  but  because  "  the  austere 
manners  and  narrow  acquisitions  of  the  Swedish  clergy 
were  not  likely  to  have  attached  her  to  their  opinions ;  and 
they  certainly  were  little  able  to  vie  in  her  estimation  with 
the  splendid  and  courtly  dignitaries  of  the  Romish  Church." 
But  the  historiographer,  from  whom  we  have  made  the 
quotation,  has,  in  his  zeal  against  the  Romish  religion, 
overlooked  the  fact,  that  the  queen  of  Sweden,  at  the  time 
of  her  conversion,  had  not  an  opportunity  of  seeing  and 
conversing  with  those  splendid  and  courtly  dignitaries  whom 
she  subsequently  met  in  the  polished  and  literary  circles 
of  the  South ;  for  in  Sweden  there  were  then  but  a  few 
obscure  and  indigent  Catholic  clergymen,  who  had  renounced 
the  pomp  of  the  world  and  exposed  themselves  to  affliction, 
that  they  might  comfort  a  persecuted  flock.  It  is  true,  the 
attainments  of  the  Swedish  Lutheran  clergy  were  never 
great. 

Christina  traveled  into  France,  Italy,  and  Germany, 
spending  much  of  her  time  in  Rome.  Upon  the  death  of 
Charles  Gustavus  X,  the  cousin  of  Christina,  to  whom  she 
had  resigned  the  throne,  her  finances  being  embarrassed,  she 
in  1660  went  into  Sweden  to  obtain  payments,  but  was  very 
badly  received  by  her  former  subjects.  They  refused  her 
incomes,  pulled  down  her  chapel,  and  some  Italian  clergymen 
who  accompanied  her  were  insulted  and  exposed  to  imminent 
danger.  The  States  required  a  repetition  of  her  act  of 
renunciation,  before  they  would  suffer  her  to  receive  her 
revenue;  and  she  then  bade  a  final  adieu  to  her  country, 
and  died  in  Rome  in  1689. 

Charles  XI,  who  succeeded  his  father,  Charles  X,  was  one 
of    the    most    stern,    arbitrary,    and    despotic    monarchs.     He 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-NORWAY.  345 

published  an  edict  forbidding  the  exercise  of  any  religion 
but  that  of  Luther,  in  Sweden,  about  the  year  1690.  This 
caused  great  dissatisfaction,  for  at  that  period  numbers  of 
other  sectaries  were  in  several  parts  of  his  kingdom  who 
disliked  the  Lutheran  mode  nearly  as  much  as  they  did 
the  Catholic  religion. 

The  events  of  the  last  century  in  this  country  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  religious  view  which  it  is  my 
object  to  give.  In  the  year  1810  the  then  reigning  mon- 
arch was  forced  to  a  resignation,  and  Bernadotte,  who  rose 
from  the  lowest  ranks  of  the  army  to  be  a  general  officer 
and  marshal  in  the  revolutionary  service  of  France,  upon 
obtaining  the  throne  changed  his  name  and  religion.  He 
was  crowned  by  the  name  of  Charles  John,  and  having 
abjured  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  he  professed  Lutheranism. 

The  present  Swedish  dominions  contain  nearly  three  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants,  of  which  the  principal  portion  are 
Lutherans.  From  the  documents  we  have  seen,  we  believe 
they  may  be  estimated  as  follows : 

Lutherans 2,250,000 

Other  Protestants 450,000 

Eoman  Catholics 80,000 


2,780,000 
Add     to     these    the    inhabitants     of    Lapland,    who    are    mostly 

Pagans,   estimated  at 60,000 


Total  population '. 2,840,000 


NORWAY. 

NORWAY  was  part  of  Scandinavia.  About  seventy  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  Odin  or  "VVodan,  a  Scythian  chieftain 
from  the  borders  of  the  Palus  Moeotis,  came  into  Scandinavia 
and  subdued  the  aborigines.  His  wife  was  Frigga  or  Freia, 
and  the  most  valiant  of  his  sons  was  Thor.  Subsequently 
they  were  considered  as  the  three  principal  deities  of  the 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— NORWAY. 

North ;  and  as  the  Orkneys,  the  Shetland  and  Faroe  Islands, 
together  with  Iceland  and  part  of  Scotland,  came  under  their 
•dominion,  their  mythology  diffused  .  itself  through  those 
regions.  The  Danes,  who  had  possession  of  England,  had, 
before  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  the  same  doctrines 
.and  deities  as  the  Norwegians.  The  Romans  had  introduced 
their  mythology  too  into  Britain,  and  the  Saxons  had  a 
blending  of  the  observances  of  the  North  and  South,  before 
their  conversion. 

The  days  of  the  week  derived  their  appellations  from 
the  deities.  Sunday  was  sacred  to  Apollo  or  the  sun, 
Monday  to  Diana  or  the  moon,  Tuesday  to  Mars,  amongst 
the  Romans,  but  the  Northerns  took  the  liberty  of  changing 
the  name  to  suit  the  appellation  of  that  of  their  own 
•favorite,  Tsycne,  one  of  the  sons  of  "Wodan ;  Mercury  was 
•dispossessed  of  his  day,  in  order  to  leave  room  for  Odin 
•or  Wodan,  who  thus  got  Wednesday;  Jove  was  obliged  to 
give  up  his  day  to  the  superior  claims  of  Thor ;  and  as 
the  next  day  was  sacred  to  Venus,  this  Grecian  lady  was 
forced  to  yield  to  the  superior  claims  of  Freia,  the  beauty 
of  the  North;  but  Saturn  was  permitted  to  retain  quiet 
possession  of  his  own  day. 

I  have  been  led  to  this  little  digression  from  noticing 
the  state  of  Norwegian  mythology  in  the  early  days  of 
Christianity.  From  what  I  have  said,  my  readers  must  see 
that  the  faith  was  considerably  spread  in  the  kingdoms  of 
Denmark  and  Sweden,  in  the  ninth  century.  Persecution  in 
one  place  has  usually  been  the  cause  of  its  establishment 
in  other  places,  especially  in  the  first  ages.  Such  was  the 
•case  in  Scandinavia. 

About  the  year  915,  Gourm,  King  of  Denmark,  was 
violent  and  inexorable  in  the  persecution  of  the  Christians 
in  his  dominions ;  his  object  was  to  extirpate  the  professors 
of  the  religion  of  our  Lord.  There  were  many  martyrs,  but 
many  also  fled,  and  carried  with  them  the  doctrines  of 
salvation.  Some  of  the  fugitives  going  into  Norway,  first 
brought  the  light  of  faith  into  those  darkened  regions,  and 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— NORWAY.  347 

•warmed   the   hearts    of    a   benumbed  people   into  gratitude  to 
heaven. 

The  missionaries  sent  by  St.  Adaldagus  in  this  age  also 
aided  in  the  great  work,  in  that  part  of  Norway  which 
borders  upon  Sweden,  where  they  were  more  occupied. 

Harald,  King  of  Denmark,  procured  many  missionaries 
for  the  North,  a  few  of  whom  penetrated  into  Norway. 
After  the  martyrdom,  his  sovereign,  who  had  raised  the 
infidels  in  rebellion,  was  subdued  by  Eric  in  Sweden:  and 
one  of  the  consequences  of  an  application  to  Eric  by  Poppo, 
Bishop  of  Sleswick,  was  the  facility  and  encouragement 
afforded  for  following  up  the  northern  missions. 

The  state  of  Norway  had  been  hitherto  unsettled ;  but 
about  the  year  1020  the  independence  and  integrity  of  the 
kingdom  were  established.  Olaus  or  Olave,  son  of  Harald 
Granscius,  Prince  of  Westfold,  in  Norway,  by  his  wife 
Asta,  daughter  of  Gulbrand  Kuta,  the  Governor  of  Gul- 
brand's  Dale  or  Valley,  sailed  for  England  in  the  year 
1013.  Norway  was  then,  and  had  been  for  some  time, 
annoyed  and  partitioned  by  Sweno,  King  of  Denmark,  Olave 
Scot  Konung,  son  of  Eric,  King  of  Sweden,  and  Eric,  son 
of  Hacon,  Earl  of  Norway.  At  the  time  of  leaving  his 
country,  Olave  was  a  Christian,  and  formed  the  design  of 
having  Norway  freed  from  the  oppression  of  foreigners  and 
the  darkness  of  paganism.  He  assisted  King  Ethelred 
against  the  Danes,  after  the  death  of  Sweno,  and  thus 
emancipated  his  countrymen  from  their  oppression.  He  next 
waged  war  against  Olaus  Scot  Konung,  who  had  succeeded 
his  father  upon  the  throne  of  Sweden ;  and  having  obtained 
exemption  of  the  Norwegian  territory  from  the  future 
aggressions  and  incursions  of  Sweden,  he  married  the 
daughter  of  the  Swedish  monarch,  who  was  also  a  Chris- 
tian, and  by  a  domestic  regulation  with  the  earl,  he  became 
monarch  of  Norway. 

Previous  to  his  leaving  England  he  procured  a  number 
of  zealous  missionaries,  whom  he  brought  with  him — one 
of  them,  Grimkele,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Drontheim. 


348  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-NORWAY. 

The  laws  of  Norway  were  revised  and  amended,  and  civ- 
ilization began  to  spread  itself,  together  with  Christianity, 
and  both  were  also  communicated  to  Iceland  and  the  islands. 

Olave  is  honored  as  a  saint  in  the  Church ;  his  acts 
were  those  of  a  wise  potentate  and  a  man  of  pure  religion. 
He  used  his  utmost  exertions  to  extirpate  idolatry,  but 
this  so  exasperated  the  adherents  to  paganism  that  they 
took  up  arms,  and,  being  assisted  by  Canute  of  Denmark, 
they  overcame  him.  Olaus  took  refuge  with  his  father-in- 
law,  who  aided  him  with  troops  to  recover  his  throne,  but 
he  was  slain  at  Stickstadt,  north  of  Drontheim,  on  the  29th 
of  July,  1028. 

After  some  commotions,  Hackin,  whom  Canute  made  Vice- 
roy of  Norway,  being  drowned,  and  Sweno,  the  son  of 
Canute,  and  viceroy  after  his  cousin  Hackin,  having  fled 
from  Norway,  Harald,  \  the  brother  of  St.  Olaus,  persecuted 
the  Christians  and  encouraged  the  pagans.  Many  suffered 
martyrdom  under  him ;  Adelbert,  Archbishop  of  Bremen, 
finally  prevailed  on  him  to  desist.  But  in  1035  Magnus, 
the  son  of  Olave,  being  of  age,  was  called  out  of  Russia, 
where  he  had  taken  refuge,  and  placed  upon  the  Norwegian 
throne.  He  rebuilt  the  Cathedral  ef  Drontheim  in  such  a 
style  of  magnificence  as  to  be  considered  the  pride  of  the 
North ;  it  was  dedicated  under  the  invocation  of  his  father, 
whose  shrine  was  richly  ornamented.  This  prince  did  much 
for  the  propagation  of  the  faith. 

Nicholas  Breakspear,  who  was  afterwards  Pope  Adrian 
IV,  was,  together  with  some  others  of  his  countrymen, 
employed  upon  the  northern  missions,  particularly  in  Nor- 
way, of  which  he  is  often  called  the  apostle,  about  the 
year  1140.  Pope  Eugenius  III,  in  approbation  of  his  zeal 
and  success,  created  him  Cardinal  and  Bishop  of  Alba; 
and  in  the  next  century  St.  Hyacinth,  one  of  the  first 
Dominican  friars,  preached  in  that  country  with  great  fruit, 
about  a  century  after  it  had  been  the  theatre  of  Cardinal 
Breakspear's  exertions. 

I  am  not  aware  of  any  particular  facts  that  accompanied 
the  change  of  religion  in  Norway,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— RUSSIA.  349 

which  would  require  special  notice  in  such  a  summary  as 
I  give.  Placed  between  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Scotland, 
where  what  was  called  "  reformation "  was  carried  on  in  a 
style  of  masterly  severity,  persecuting  all  who  would  not 
conform  to  the  new  tenets,  and  sometimes  bowed  under  the 
yoke  of  Denmark,  sometimes  under  that  of  Sweden,  the 
Church  of  Norway  was  destroyed  towards  the  middle  of 
that  century,  and  Lutheranism  was  upheld  and  protected. 
Some  Catholics  still  were  to  be  found  in  Norway,  and  some 
other  descriptions  of  Protestants,  but  Lutheranism  was  and 
is  the  dominant  sect. 

ESTIMATE. 

Lutherans 700,000 

Other  Protestants 200,000 

Roman  Catholics 30,000 

Pagans 30,000 


960,000 

Iceland  was  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith,  principally 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  professors  of  that  faith 
were  persecuted  into  a  conformity  with  the  Norwegian  and 
Danish  changes,  and  left  without  Homan  Catholic  clergymen, 
in  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Faroe  Islands  were  converted  earlier  to  the  faith, 
and  retained  it  longer  than  Iceland ;  we  scarcely  know  how 
to  characterize  the  religion  of  either  at  present.  In  both 
portions  the  number  of  Catholics  is  inconsiderable,  not 
exceeding  5,000 ;  the  other  sects  calling  themselves  Chris- 
tians, about  20,000,  and  pagans  upwards  of  20,000.  Very 
little  exertion  is  at  present  made  to  communicato  instruc- 
tion to  these  people. 


RUSSIA. 
I. 


THIS  vast  country  contains  the  principal  portion  of  the 
ancient  Sarmatia,  Scythia,  and  part  of  what  was  Scandinavia. 
The  Tartars  and  Muscovites,  in  later  times,  were  the  chief 
occupants  of  these  extensive  territories ;  and,  in  the  inter- 


350  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— RUSSIA. 

mediate  .  period,  after  the  emigrations  of  the  Goths  and 
Vandals,  the  Sclavi,  the  Russi,  the  Hunni,  the  Turci,  and 
various  other  tribes,  extended  themselves  more  or  less 
through  these  undefined  regions.  Russia  extends  through 
Europe  and  Asia,  and  comprises  a  portion  of  America.  I 
shall  here  confine  myself  to  a  very  brief  and  general  state- 
ment of  the  establishment  of  Christianity  and  its  decay  in 
European  Russia. 

In  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  some  knowledge  of 
the  Christian  religion  was  obtained  by  the  barbarous  tribes 
above  mentioned,  from  slaves  whom  they  had  taken  from 
the  civilized  nations  in  some  of  their  incursions,  and  from 
fugitives  and  adventurers  from  those  nations.  But  very- 
little  progress  was  thus  made;  some  persons,  brought  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  great  mysteries  of  redemption,  were  bap- 
tized, principally  by  laymen. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  Michael  the 
Stammerer  and  his  successor,  Theophilus,  iconoclasts  and 
emperors  of  the  East,  persecuted  the  Catholics,  especially 
the  holy  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Saints  Nicephorus "  and 
Methodius.  Theodora,  the  widow  of  Theophilus,  admin- 
istered during  the  minority  of  her  son  Michael  III,  whom 
she  educated  in  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  About  the  year 
848,  the  Chazari,  who  were  a  tribe  of  Turci  that  had 
migrated  from  the  banks  of  the  Volga,  the  ancient  Dra, 
sent  a  solemn  embassy  to  the  regent  and  her  son,  with  a 
request  to  have  some  Christian  missionaries  procured  for 
them.  They  were  at  that  time  governed  by  Chagans,  or 
Chamsr  who  had  regal  authority,  and  were  but  one  of  seven 
or  eight  tribes  similarly  circumstanced. 

Theodora  applied  to  St.  Ignatius,  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople, who  sent  a  number  of  clergymen  under  Cyril,  a 
very  learned  priest,  who  was  surnamed  the  Philosopher. 
Cyril's  original  name  was  Constantino.  He  was  a  native 
of  Thcssalonica,  noted  for  his  zeal  and  piety  equally  as  for 
his  learning.  Having  instructed  the  nation,  baptized  the 
Cham,  and  organized  churches,  he  returned  to  Constantinople. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-RUSSIA.  351 

Accompanied  by  his  brother,  St.  Methodius,  St.  Cyril 
afterwards  preached  the  faith  in  several  parts  of  what  is 
now  Turkey,  and  in  part  of  the  present  Austrian  domin- 
ions ;  but  from  his  first  mission  under  the  authority  of  St. 
Ignatius,  who  held  communion  with  and  acknowledged  the 
supremacy  of  the  Pope,  the  southern  part  of  what  is  now 
Russia  received  the  faith. 

From  Bulgaria,  where  the  two  brothers  spread  the  light 
of  the  Gospel,  it  penetrated  into  the  southwestern  parts  of 
the  same  empire,  then  held  by  the  Sclavi,  who  had  gone 
southwards. 

In  the  year  892,  Rurick,  Sinens,  and  Tyuwor,  three 
brothers,  came  by  invitation  from  the  "Warengi,  on  the 
borders  of  the  Baltic,  and  governed  the  Russi  and  Sclavo- 
nians  in  their  vicinity.  Rurick,  being  the  survivor,  was 
sole  monarch.  He  fixed  his  residence  near  Lake  Lagoda. 
His  son  Igor  transferred  his  seat  of  government  to  Kiow. 
Olga,  his  wife,  surviving  him,  and  going  to  Constantinople, 
was  instructed  in  the  faith,  and  was  there  baptized.  Though 
her  son  Suastoslas  died  an  idolater,  yet  her  grandson 
Wladimtr  the  Great,  embraced  Christianity  and  was  bap- 
tized; ho  married  Anne,  a  Grecian  princess,  and  built  the 
city  of  Wladimiria.  By  his  means  the  truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel were  made  known  in  another  portion  of  what  is  now 
the  Russian  empire. 

The  manner  in  which  Olga,  who  is  also  called  Helena, 
conducted  herself  in  very  delicate  circumstances  is  worthy 
of  notice.  Her  husband  Ihor,  or  Igor,  undertook  an  expe- 
dition against  Constantinople,  and  having  been  repulsed  by 
the  generals  of  the  Emperors  Romanus  and  Constantino, 
was  slain  by  the  Dreulans  upon  his  retreat ;  Olga,  his 
widow,  then  a  pagan,  revenged  his  death,  subdued  the 
Dreulans,  and  governed  her  husband's  dominions  with  great 
prudence.  About  the  year  945,  she  being  then  in  peace, 
went  to  Constantinople ;  was  instructed  and  baptized  by  the 
name  of  Helena,  leaving  the  government  to  her  son  Suas- 
toslas. After  her  conversion  she  returned  home,  and  died 


352  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 

in  the  year  970.  Her  son  never  embraced  Christianity,  but 
his  son  Wladimir,  or,  according  to  others,  spelled  Volodi- 
mir,  became  a  Christian,  and  obtained  in  marriage  Anne, 
the  sister  of  the  two  associated  brothers,  the  Emperors 
Basil  and  Constantine.  Nicholas  Chrysoberga,  the  Roman 
Catholic  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  sent,  in  977,  a  num- 
ber of  clergy  under  the  authority  of  Michael,  whom  he 
appointed  their  superior,  into  this  country,  in  which  they 
established  the  faith  and  extended  considerably  the  influence 
of  the  Gospel.  The  title  of  Volodimir  was  Duke  of  the 
Russi.  In  the  year  1156  George,  Duke  of  Russia,  built 
Moscow ;  and  it  was  only  in  the  year  1552  that  I  wan,  or 
John  II,  took  the  title  of  Czar,  or  King  of  Muscovy. 

That  part  of  Poland  which  belongs  to  this  empire  owes 
its  conversion  principally  to  the  zealous  labors  of  St.  Adal- 
bert, or  Albert,  in  the  first  instance. 

Adalbert  was  born  in  Bohemia  in  the  year  956,  and 
was  in  baptism  called  Woytiach,  which,  in  Sclavonian,  sig- 
nifies "  Help  of  the  Army."  Being  placed  by  his  parents 
under  the  care  of  Adalbert,  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  the 
greatest  care  was  taken  of  his  education,  and  the  arch- 
bishop in  confirmation  gave  him  his  own  name.  He  was 
promoted  to  holy  orders  in  983  by  Diethmar,  Bishop  of 
Prague,  and  in  that  same  year  was  appointed  successor  to 
this  same  prelate,  who  died  soon  after  his  ordination.  He 
was  consecrated  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz.  Finding  but 
little  fruit  from  his  preaching  in  Prague,  he  went  to  Rome 
and  had  his  resignation  accepted  by  Pope  John  XV  in 
989,  and  retired  into  a  monastery ;  but  in  994  the  same 
Pope,  at  the  solicitations  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  com- 
pelled him  to  resume  his  see,  with  a  proviso,  that  if  his 
exertions  there  should  be  fruitless,  he  might  retire  whither 
he  would.  Profiting  by  this  clause,  upon  discovering  the 
perfect  inutility  of  his  attempts  to  bring  to  practical  religion 
&  people  who  merely  listened  to  and  admired  him,  and 
were  content  with  the  bare  and  barren  profession  of  the 
faith,  he  went  to  preach  to  the  infidels  of  Poland  and 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-RUSSIA.  353 

Hungary,  and  was  on  terms  of  friendship  with  Stephen, 
king  of  the  latter  place,  whom  he  had  specially  instructed. 

Being  again  ordered  by  Pope  Gregory  V  to  return  to 
Prague,  he  was  refused  admittance  by  Boleslas,  Prince  of 
Bohemia,  and  a  number  of  his  adherents,  upon  which  he 
retired  into  Poland,  where  Miceslas  was  then  duke,  and 
whose  son  and  principal  counsellor,  Boleslas,  was  a  par- 
ticular friend  of  Adalbert.  This  Bosleslas,  succeeding  in 
his  wishes  of  having  the  people  instructed,  saw  a  vast 
accession  to  ^  the  Christian  Church,  through  the  labors  of  the 
holy  bishop,  who  was  martyred  by  a  body  of  Prussian 
infidels,  on  the  23d  of  April,  997.  Duke  Miceslas  sent 
ambassadors  to  Rome,  but  he  died  before  their  return  in 
999;  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Boleslas  I,  surnamed 
Chabri  or  the  Great,  who  became  the  first  King  of  Poland. 

Miceslas,  his  father,  having  in  965  embraced  the  faith 
upon  his  marriage  with  a  Christian  princess,  daughter  of 
Boleslas,  Duke  of  Bohemia,  and  sister  to  him  W7ho  opposed 
the  reiiurn  of  St.  Adalbert  to  Prague,  caused  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Gospel  into  his  dominions,  and  it  was  fully 
established  under  the  auspices  of  the  son. 

Still  further  north  was  a  people  called  Russi  or  Rutheni, 
who  were  some  of  the  most  northern  European  Scythians. 
They  derived  their  pedigree  from  the  ancient  Roxolani 
mentioned  by  Strabo  and  Pliny,  as  beyond  the  Boristhynes, 
near  the  Gatse.  The  word  Rosscia  in  their  language  signi- 
fies scattering :  and  they  were  supposed  to  be  denominated 
from  living,  not  in  towns  or  cities,  but  scattered  over  the 
country.  Nations,  similarly  scattered,  were  by  the  Greeks 
called  Spori,  or  scattered. 

About  the  latter  end  of  the  tenth  century,  a  young 
Saxon  nobleman,  named  Boniface  or  Bruno,  leaving  the 
court  of  the  Emperor  Otho  III,  joined  the  Order  of  Cam- 
aldoli  under  St.  Romuald,  and  after  a  long  preparation  by 
prayer  and  retirement  and  meditation,  presented  himself  to 
Pope  John  XVIII,  to  preach  to  the  infidels.  Having 
received  the  necessary  faculties,  he  was  consecrated  arch- 

23 


354  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 

bishop  of  his  mission  by  Taymont,  Archbishop  of  Magde- 
burg. Passing  through  Prussia,  he  entered  the  territory  of 
the  Russi,  where  he  made  several  converts,  having  endured 
much  persecution  and  affliction ;  he  baptized  one  of  the 
kings  of  that  place  and  several  of  his  people.  Soon  after 
this,  he  was  seized  upon  by  the-  infidels  and  beheaded,, 
together  with  eighteen  of  his  companions,  in  the  year  1009 ; 
but  the  faith  continued  to  make  considerable  progress  after 
his  death. 

Finland  was  principally  converted  by  St.  Henry,  Arch- 
bishop of  Upsal,  in  1151. 

In  the  next  century,  St.  Hyacinth,  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Dominic,  a  noble  Silesian,  of  whom  I  have  made  mention 
before,  extended  the  faith  greatly  in  Poland.  Subsequently 
passing  into  Lesser  Russia,  Moscovy,  and  the  neighboring 
nations,  he  preached  with  great  fruit  until  the  destruction 
of  Kiow  by  the  Tartars,  in  1231,  when  he  returned  into- 
Poland,  wrhere  he  remained  for  some  time,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  join  several  other  members  of  his  order  who 
were  sent  into  Tartary.  Thousands  having  embraced  the 
faith,  one  of  their  princes,  together  with  several  lords  of 
his  nation,  attended  at  the  Council  of  Lateran  in  1245. 
Having  penetrated  through  Tartary  nearly  to  Thibet  and 
the  East  Indies,  he  founded  in  several  places  Christian 
churches.  Thence*  coming  back  to  Poland,  he  again  entered 
Red  Russia,  where  he  made  many  additional  converts,  and 
returning  to  Cracow,  died  in  1257. 

In  the  year  846,  upon  the  death  of  St.  Methodius, 
Patriarcli  of  Constantinople,  St.  Ignatius  was  raised  to  that 
dignity.  The  Emperor  Michael  III  was  led,  by  his  favorite 
uncle  Bardas,  into  the  most  shameful  excesses  of  profligacy. 
The  holy  patriarch  remonstrated  with  him,  but  in  vain. 
Bardas  was,  for  his  criminal  habits,  driven  from  the  sacra- 
ments and  excommunicated.  His  rage  led  him  to  threaten 
to  stab  Ignatius,  but  he  bethought  himself  of  a  less 
revolting  mode  of  revenge.  He  persuaded  the  young 
monarch  ihat  his  mother  domineered  over  him  and  deprived 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— RUSSIA.  355 

him   of    his    just   power — recommended   that   Ignatius    should 
be     ordered    to     cut    off    her    hair  '  and    that    of    her    three 
daughters,    and    have   them   placed   in   some    monastery.     The 
patriarch,    of    course,    refused    to    perform    so    irreligious   an 
act   of  violence.     Upon   which,  by  the    instigation   of  Bardas, 
Michael    had    his    minions   to   perform   the   acts    of    violence, 
and    Ignatius   was    banished    to    a   monastery   in   the    isle    of 
Terebinthus,    where    every   effort   wras    used   to    force    him   to 
a    resignation,    which    he    refused.     Photius,    a    very   learned 
but   very   profligate    relative    of    the    emperor,    was    ordained 
bishop,    from    being    a    layman    in    office    at    the    court,    and 
on    the    sixth    day   intruded    into    the    patriarchal    chair,    on 
Christmas   day,    858.     A   synod   of  bishops    met   in    Constan- 
tinople,   and    excommunicated    Photius,    who    also    proceeded 
against   them,  not   merely  with   a   similar  form,   but   by  force 
of  arms   and   with   the   aid   of  Bardas.     I   do   not   here    find 
it    necessary   to    dwell    upon    facts    which    shall   hereafter   be 
particularized ;    suffice    it    to    say,    that    after   the   unravelling 
of    much     deceit,    Photius     was     excommunicated     by    Rome, 
which    he    had    endeavored    to    deceive.     In    return,    in    the 
year    866,    by   the    aid    of    the    emperor,    he    held   a    sort   of 
council   at    Constantinople,   in  which   he    excommunicated   and 
pronounced    sentence    of    deposition    against     Pope    Nicholas, 
and    thus    commenced    the    Greek   Schism.     Bardas   was   put 
to  death   in  that    year  by  the  emperor  for  conspiring  against 
his   life ;    and    in    September    of  the   next   year,    the    emperor 
himself    was    slain    by    his    guard,    for   attempting   to   depose 
Basil,  whom    he    had  joined    with  him  in  the  empire.     Basil 
succeeded   and    banished    Photius ;    Ignatius  was  restored  and 
the   schism    healed,  but  its   effects  were  not  destroyed.     Pho- 
tius,  upon    the   death   of    Ignatius,    in    878,    took    possession 
of    the    Church   of    St.    Sophia    with     an    armed    force,    and 
obtained    from    John    VIII    the    appointment    to    the   patri- 
archate    at     the     request     of    Basil,    upon     conditions     which 
Photius    never    fulfilled.     The   intruder   was   then   condemned 
by  John,   and   by  his   successors    Martin    or   Marinus,  Adrian 
III,   and    Stephen   V.      After    the   death    of    Basil,    his    son 


356  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— RUSSIA. 

Leo  the  Wise,  or  the  Philosopher,  succeeded,  who  at  the 
request  of  Pope  Stephen  banished  Photius  into  a  monastery 
in  Armenia,  where  he  died.  The  union  was  then  perfect 
between  the  Popes  and  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople 
during  upwards  of  a  century;  but  the  schism  under  Michael 
Cerularius,  in  1053,  made  a  very  considerable  portion  of 
the  East  separate  from  the  centre  of  unity 

The  vicinity  of  Southern  Russia  to  Constantinople,  their 
union  for  so  long  a  time  with  that  metropolis,  from  which 
their  forefathers  had  received  the  faith,  and  the  similarity 
of  their  discipline,  would  appear  to  cause  the  Muscovites 
easily  to  be  led  into  the  separation.  The  contiguity  of 
Kiow,  the  then  capital  of  the  Russians,  to  the  city,  caused 
more  frequent  communications  between  the  dukes  of  Russia 
and  the  emperors  of  the  East,  so  that  the  court  and  the 
principal  ecclesiastics,  having  joined  in  the  schism,  it  would 
be  more  generally  adhered  to. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  case,  for  we  find  strong  and 
impregnable  evidence  of  the  Russian  churches  continuing 
Catholic  during  centuries,  notwithstanding  the  unfounded 
assertions  of  many  sectaries  and  Catholics  to  the  contrary. 
I  have  already  noticed  that  Vladimir,  the  son  of  Igor,  was 
the  duke  who  principally  established  the  faith  of  Kiow  and 
the  rest  of  his  dominions.  His  successor  was  Jaroslas,  his 
son,  who  was  succeeded  in  1078  by  "Wsevolod  I,  his  grand- 
son, in  whose  reign  Ephrem,  Metropolitan  of  Kiow,  executed 
the  bull  of  Urban  II  for  the  feast  of  the  translation  of 
the  relics  of  St.  Nicholas,  of  Bari,  on  the  9th  of  May. 
His  son,  Andrew  Bogoliski,  transferred  the  ducal  residence 
from  Kiow  to  Wladimiria.  In  1156  George,  Duke  of 
Russia,  recovered  Kiow,  and  built  Moscow,  so  called  from 
a  monastery  called  Moskoi,  which  previously  stood  there, 
and  had  its  name  from  Mus  or  Muisk  men,  that  is,  the 
seat  or  residence  of  select  men.  Under  George  II,  Duke 
of  Muscovy,  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
many  of  the  Russians  were  involved  in  the  schism,  but  in 
1244,  they  were  formally  reunited  to  the  Holy  See.  His 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES- RUSSIA.  357 

son,  Alexander,  succeeded  in  124G.  He  is  honored  as  a 
saint  in  the  Russian  Church,  and  lived  and  died  in  the 
faith  and  communion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  he 
is  called  St.  Alexander  Newski,  or  of  Newa,  from  a  great 
victory  he  obtained  over  the  Poles  and  Teutonic  Knights 
in  Livonia,  on  the  banks  of  Newa,  when  he  was  Prince 
of  Novogorod,  in  1241 ;  his  death  took  place  in  1262,  at 
Gorodes.  The  Czar,  Peter  the  Great,  built  a  convent  of 
Basillian  monks  to  his  honor  near  St.  Petersburg,  and  in 
1725,  Catherine  instituted  the  second  order  of  Russian 
knighthood  under  his  name.  In  1304  Daniel,  fourth  son 
of  Alexander,  left  by  his  father  Duke  of  Moscow,  after  the 
death  of  his  three  elder  brothers,  became  ruler,  and  made 
Moscow  the  ducal  residence.  In  1415,  during  the  reign  of 
Basil  or  Vasili  II,  Photius,  Metropolitan  of  Russia,  residing 
at  Kio\v,  joined  in  the  Greek  schism,  and  being  deposed 
on  that  account  by  a  council  held  at  Kovogrodek,  he  retired 
into  Great  Russia,  and  there  spread  his  poison.  His  suc- 
cessor in  Kiow,  Gregory,  assisted  at  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance. There  were  then  and  had  been  for  some  time  in 
Russia  seven  archbishops  and  a  proportionate  number  of 
bishops. 

The  schism  having  made  rapid  progress,  in  the  year 
1588  the  Archbishop  of  Moscow  was,  by  Jeremy,  the  schis- 
matical  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  declared  Patriarch  of  all 
Russia,  and  was  recognized  as  such  by  the  schismatical 
patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem,  upon  con- 
dition that  he  should  be  chosen  by  them.  Most  of  the 
Muscovites,  thenceforward,  were  engaged  in  the  schism,  and 
joined  several  heresies  thereto.  But  the  archbishops  of  Kiow 
still  continued  Catholic,  as  did  almost  all  Polish  Russia, 
which,  since  the  year  1600,  has  been  under  a  metropolitan 
of  Kiow,  archbishop  of  Ploses,  and  bishops  of  Presmilin, 
Liceoria,  and  Leopold;  but  in  1686,  Kiow  being  ceded  to 
the  Muscovites,  they  established  a  schismatical  metropolitan 
therein  —  Photius  and  Jonas  II  being  the  only  preceding 
prelates  who  were  not  Catholics. 


358  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES -RUSSIA. 

The  first  czar  was  Iwan,  or  John  IV,  in  1552.  In  the 
reign  of  Czar  Michael  Alexis  AVitz,  Nicon,  an  ambitious 
and  crafty  man,  was  the  schismatical  patriarch ;  he  told 
the  czar  that  it  wras  a  useless  and  derogatory  custom  for 
the  Patriarch  of  Muscovy  to  seek  for  confirmation  from 
Constantinople  or  the  other  patriarchates ;  that  he  derived 
his  power  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  ought  not  to  seek  it 
from  man.  The  czar  countenanced  him,  and  he  quickly 
increased  the  number  of  archbishops  and  bishops  in  the 
State.  Having  regulated  Church  affairs  to  his  liking,  he 
next  assumed  a  right  to  guide  the  decisions  of  the  senate, 
and  to  direct  the  czar  in  making  peace  or  war,  lest  he 
might  act  against  conscience,  and  insisted  that  he  should 
decide  upon  the  justice  or  injustice  of  the  laws  previous  to 
their  promulgation.  The  czar  and  the  senate  opposed  his 
pretensions ;  he  would  not  abate  a  particle — excommunicated 
several  of  the  senate,  and  excited  rebellion,  in  which  much 
blood  was  shed.  The  czar  finding  the  patriarch  still  unsub- 
dued, assembled  a  council  in  1667,  paying  the  expenses  of 
any  bishop  in  or  out  of  his  dominions  who  would  attend; 
it  consisted  of  three  patriarchs,  twenty-seven  archbishops, 
one  hundred  and  ten  bishops,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
other  Russian  ecclesiastics. 

This  synod  deposed  the  patriarch,  ordering  that  he  should 
be  confined  during  the  rest  of  his  life  in  a  convent  and 
fed  on  bread  and  water : 

That  the  czar  and  senate  should  have  votes  in  the  elec- 
tion of  the  patriarch,  who  should  be  amenable  to  their 
judgment: 

That  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  should  have  no 
right  to  the  appellation  of  the  head  of  the  Russian  Church, 
nor  any  authority  therein,  but  such  ab  the  czar  should 
think  proper  to  bestow  on  him : 

That  no  more  property  should  be  given  or  left  to  con- 
vents or  churches ;  and  that  the  patriarch  should  have  no 
authority  to  erect  new  dioceses  or  establishments  without 
the  consent  of  the  czar  and  the  senate. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-RUSSIA.  359 

II. 

In  1588,  the  great  body  of  the  Russian  clergy  and  people 
joined  in  the  Greek  schism,  and  in  1667,  they  formed  an 
independent  establishment,  of  which,  in  fact,  they  made  the 
czar  and  senate  of  the  empire  the  head,  and  rejecting  the 
authority  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  formally  sepa- 
rated from  him.  The  patriarchs  of  Moscow  still  had  many 
quarrels  with  the  court  until  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great. 

The  descendants  of  Rurick,  whom  I  have  noticed  before, 
as  the  founder  of  the  race  of  dukes  and  czars,  became 
extinct  in  Feeder  or  Theodore,  in  1598.  After  some  con- 
tention and  confusion,  Michael,  of  the  family  of  Romanow, 
allied  to  the  preceding  czars,  was  chosen  Great  Duke  of 
Muscovy,  in  1613.  His  third  descendant  was  Peter  the 
Great,  who  founded  the  Russian  empire.  In  the  year  1700, 
the  patriarchate  became  vacant,  and  after  nineteen  years, 
Peter,  who  had  made  some  unsuccessful  negotiations  for  a 
reunion  with  the  See  of  Rome,  declared  himself  head  of 
the  Russian  Church,  had  an  archbishop  appointed  for 
Moscow,  and  placed  the  Church  government  under  a  sort 
of  committee,  consisting  of  ecclesiastics  and  laymen  —  in 
which  state  it  still  continues. 

There  is  a  considerable  division  in  the  Russian  Church, 
a  large  body  who  called  themselves  Sterawersi,  or  old 
faithful,  having  separated  from  the  principal  sect.  This 
division  has  existed  for  a  long  time,  but  the  formal  sepa- 
ration was  made  in  the  patriarchate  of  Nicon.  They  were 
persecuted  by  the  dominant  party  until  Peter  the  Great 
established  a  limited  freedom  of  conscience,  tolerating  every 
religion,  but  forbidding  any  persons  to  leave  the  Russian 
Church  for  the  purpose  of  joining  the  Roman  Catholic. 

Lutheranism  was  introduced  at  an  early  period  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  particularly  by  the  Swedes  into  Finland, 
which,  until  lately,  belonged  to  them,  and  into  the  adjoining 
parts  of  Archangel  and  Xovogorod.  In  1559,  William  of 
Furstenberg,  Herr  Meister  of  Livonia,  or  Grand  Master  of 


360  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— RUSSIA. 

the  Teutonic  Knights,  who  then  governed  Livonia,  having 
become  a  Lutheran,  resigned  his  office  in  favor  of  Gotthard 
Kettler,  who  had  been  his  coadjutor  master.  This  man 
having  also  embraced  the  new  doctrines,  ceded  a  part  of 
Livonia  to  the  Danes,  and  the  principal  portion  to  Poland, 
receiving  the  investiture  of  the  dukedoms  of  Courtland  and 
Samagotia,  as  secular.  The  new  doctrines  spread  from  those 
places  into  Russia,  so  that  Lutheranism  made  considerable 
progress  in  the  northwestern  part  of  that  country.  In  the 
year  1581,  Pope  Gregory  XIII  wrote  to  the  czar,  John 
Vasilievitz,  who  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  to  request  he 
would  send  the  Lutheran  preachers  out  of  his  dominions ; 
but  the  czar  wrote  back  a  refusal,  stating  that  in  his 
country  all  nations  should  have  the  free  exercise  of  their 
several  religions. 

Many  Calvanists  subsequently  found  their  way  thither 
from  the  more  southern  regions  of  Europe,  particularly 
through  Poland  and  Germany,  and  in  the  time  of  Peter 
the  Great,  from  Holland,  and  lately  from  Scotland. 

The  Armenians  separated  from  the  See  of  Rome,  as  well 
as  those  in  its  communion,  are  by  no  means  a  small  number 
of  the  Christians  of  this  country.  The  latter,  of  course, 
being  members  of  the  universal  Catholic  body,  are  to  be 
ranked  under  their  proper  head.  A  very  considerable 
portion  of  this  body  which  was  schismatic,  and  resided  in 
Poland  under  a  patriarch,  was  reunited  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  together  with  its  patriarch,  in  1616. 

After  the  conquest  of  Greece  by  the  Turks,  and  the 
establishment  of  Mahommedanism  in  the  east  of  Europe, 
many  of  the  Mussulmen  settled  in  Russia,  and,  at  present, 
the  number  in  the  European  part  of  that  empire  is  by 
no  means  inconsiderable. 

By  these  several  means,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
has  been  greatly  reduced  in  this  large  empire,  but  still  the 
numbers  who  have  adhered  to  it  are  by  no  means  few. 

In  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the  Jesuits,  who  had 
been  frequently  the  objects  of  gross  misrepresentation  and 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— RUSSIA. 

unfounded  calumny,  were  established  in  many  places,  to 
diffuse  the  light  of  science  in  this  country.  They  had  pre- 
viously labored  as  missionaries,  and  been,  to  a  certain, 
degree,  successful ;  but,  when  they  were  driven  from  the 
rest  of  Europe,  they,  in  the  dominions  of  Catherine,  found 
an  asylum.  The  great  obstacle  to  their  labors  was  prin- 
cipally the  law  which  forbade  any  person  to  become  a 
convert;  yet  many,  notwithstanding  this  law,  embraced  the, 
doctrines  of  the  Church.  In  1782,  the  number  of  Roman 
Catholics  had  greatly  increased ;  and  in  the  next  year, 
at  the  request  of  the  Empress  Catherine  II,  Stanislaus, 
Siestrzencewez  was  consecrated  in  Rome  first  Archbishop  of 
Mohilow,  and  Primate  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of 
Russia,  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Thomas,  the  Apostle,  December 
21.  The  patriarchate  of  Kiow  has  thus  been  superseded. 

Upon  the  seizure  of  a  considerable  part  of  wrhat  once 
was  Poland  by  the  Empress  of  Russia,  in  the  last  century, 
a  considerable  accession  was  made  to  the  Catholic  popula- 
tion of  the  empire ;  and  when  those  usurpations  had 
received  a  character  of  permanence,  there  were  some  regula- 
tions of  the  See  of  Rome,  to  settle  the  jurisdictions  of  the 
bishops  of  Poland,  etc.,  within  such  limits  as  would  not 
interfere  with  the  boundaries  of  those  powers,  to  which 
they  were  severally  subject. 

In  most  places  within  the  Russian  dominions,  as  well 
in  the  Catholic  as  in  the  Russian  Churches,  the  liturgy  is 
in  the  Sclavonian  dialect.  This  was  established  by  St*. 
Methodius,  after  the  death  of  his  brother  Cyril,  by  the 
authority  of  Pope  John  VIII,  in  the  year  879,  which 
custom  was  confirmed  by  Pope  Urban  VIII,  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Innocent  X,  about  1650;  by  the  Synod  of  Zamoski,, 
held  in  1720,  under  Innocent  XI,  then  by  Pope  Innocent 
XIII,  and  finally  by  Benedict  XIV,  in  the  Bullar.  Const. 
98,  dat.  an.  1744,  and  Const.  Ex  pastorali  muncrc,  1754. 

The  Sclavonic  is,  probably,  with  the  exception  of  the- 
Arabic,  the  most  extensive  language  extant.  But  its  modern- 
dialects  are  as  different  from  the  old  mother  tongue  as  any 


•362  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 

modern  language  is  from  those  which  are  now  called  dead 
languages ;  and  the  liturgy  in  the  Latin  or  Greek  would 
be  equally  intelligible  to  the  congregation  as  in  the  tongue 
•which  is  used  still  by  the  discipline  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  no  particular  portion  thereof  having  authority  to 
-change  the  language  of  its  rite  without  either  the  general 
consent  of  the  whole  body  or  of  its  head,  that  is,  the  bishops 
of  the  universal  Church  or  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  And  the 
same  reasons  which  cause  the  retention  of  the  other  original 
languages,  Latin,  Greek,  Coptic,  and  Syriac,  or  Chaldaic, 
which  is  the  modern  Hebrew,  in  the  liturgies  of  several 
•other  portions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  operate  with 
equal  force  for  retaining  the  old  Sclavonic  in  Russia  and 
in  the  other  countries  where  it  was  originally  adopted. 

A  breviary  and  missal  of  this  tongue,  which  had  been 
revised  and  corrected  by  Caraman,  afterwards  Archbishop 
of  Jadra,  he  having  been  properly  authorized,  were  printed 
in  Rome  in  1741 :  according  to  the  rules  of  a  dictionary 
of  that  language,  titled  Azbuguiderium,  i.  e.,  A,b,c,derium. 
The  best  grammar  thereof  was  compiled  by  Smotriski,  a 
Basilian  monk,  and  printed  at  "\Vilna  in  1619 — reprinted 
at  Moscow  in  1721. 

Some  of  the  Churches  in  Poland  and  Moravia,  which  had 
originally  received  the  Latin  liturgy,  about  the  year  1000, 
wished  to  use  the  Sclavonian  liturgy;  but  upon  the  same 
principle  which  causes  the  retention  of  the  Sclavonian,  in 
those  Churches  where  it  was  originally  established,  a  synod, 
held  at  Spalatro,  under  John,  Archbishop  of  Salona,  expressly 
prohibited  its  introduction  to  those  churches.  Maynard,  the 
Pope's  legate  in  those  parts,  forbade  its  use  in  any  public 
office,  to  those  Churches  and  clergy  who  had  previously 
used  the  Latin  tongue.  These  decisions  were  confirmed  by 
Pope  Alexander  II ;  Pope  Gregory  VII,  the  successor  of 
Alexander,  renewed  the  decree,  applying  it  to  the  Churches 
in  Germany,  which  were  in  like  manner  omitting  the 
Latin  and  adopting  the  Sclavonian.  Some  ignorant  would-be 
critics,  who  merely  catch  at  the  first  glimpse  of  an  apparent 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-RUSSIA.  363 

•contradiction  to  form  a  judgment  and  to  pronounce  a  con- 
demnation, and  some  insidious  men  of  ability  who  oppose 
the  Catholic  Church,  quote  these  apparently  conflicting  decrees 
of  several  Popes,  and  similar  ones,  as  proofs  of  the  insta- 
bility of  Catholic  doctrine,  and  triumphantly  ask,  "  Is  this 
Church  infallible?"  I  really  do  not  know  how  such  men 
ought  to  be  answered;  for,  in  the  first  place,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  give  them  either  honesty  or  information,  or 
both.  Had  they  such  qualifications,  they  would  acknowledge, 
that  so  far  from  being  conflicting,  these  decrees  proceed 
upon  the  same  principle,  but  applied  variously,  under, 
different  circumstances ;  and  next,  Eoman  Catholics  do  not 
<;laim  infallibility  for  the  Pope  in  everything ;  nor  for  the 
Church,  except  in  doctrines  of  faith  and  morality;  and 
these  decrees  do  not  regard  either  the  doctrines  of  faith 
or  the  principles  of  morality,  which  are  immutable;  but 
the  regulation  of  discipline,  which  might,  at  any  moment, 
be  changed  by  proper  authority. 

In  Russia,  some  of  the  Churches  have  been  planted  by 
the  missionaries  from  the  East,  and  some  by  those  from 
the  West.  Each  portion  had  its  peculiar  ceremonies  and 
forms  of  prayer,  different  from  the  other,  though  their 
doctrines  of  faith,  their  principles  and  morality,  and  their 
essential  discipline,  were  exactly  the  same;  those  Churches, 
generally  still  retain,  not  only  their  original  language,  but 
also  their  original  ceremonies  and  forms.  Hence,  amongst 
the  Russian  Catholics,  great  diversity  of  secondary  discipline 
is  observable.  This  has  given  rise  to  the  assertions  of 
some  unskillful  writers,  who  conclude  that  there  must  be 
a  difference  of  belief,  because  there  is  a  difference  of 
external  forms.  As  well  might  they  conclude  that  Jansenists 
are  Roman  Catholics,  because  all  the  external  forms  are 
•similar.  As  well  might  they  conclude  that  the  persons 
who  frequent  St.  Mary's  Church  in  Philadelphia  are  in  the 
communion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  because  the 
young  man  who  officiates  therein  observes  the  same  forms 
as  are  observed  by  duly  authorized  Roman  Catholic  priests. 


364  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 

Communion  in  spirituals  consists  in  believing  the  same 
doctrines  of  faith,  being  united  under  the  same  Church 
government,  and  obeying  the  authority  of  that  government, 
and  having,  of  course,  the  same  sacraments.  The  Russian 
Catholic  Churches  believe  the  same  doctrines  that  are 
believed  by  all  other  Roman  Catholic  Churches.  They  have 
the  same  sacraments  that  all  other  Roman  Catholics  have ; 
and  they  are  under  the  government  of  bishops,  who  hold 
communion  with  and  are  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
who  is  the  centre  of  unity  and  communion  for  all  Roman 
Catholics  throughout  the  world.  They  acknowledge  this 
authority  and  they  obey  it;  though  having  been  properly 
authorized  therefor,  their  liturgical  language  and  their  acci- 
dental ceremonies,  which  are  matters  of  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline, differ  from  those  of  other  Churches.  By  not  observing 
this  distinction  between  what  is  essentially  necessary  and 
what  is  matter  of  conventional  regulation,  many  superficial 
writers  and  readers  have  made  egregious  blunders ;  and  by 
willfully  confusing  what  ought  to  be  accurately  distinguished, 
many  ingenious  sophists  have  created  considerable  delusion. 

Hence,  Russia  exhibits  in  her  Roman  Catholic  Churches, 
perhaps  the  greatest  diversity  of  discipline  among  all  the 
nations,  if  we  except  the  city  of  Rome,  where  there  are 
Churches  of  all  rites  in  communion  with  the  Holy  See. 
You  find  the  Greek  and  Latin  rites,  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages,  and  both  in  the  old  Sclavonian  tongue, 
and  the  Armenian  and  Syriac  rites,  all  used  in  several 
Roman  Catholic  Churches,  having  different  discipline,  but 
holding  the  same  faith,  and  subject  to  the  game  authority, 
and  united  in  the  common  father  of  Christendom,  the 
Bishop  of  Rome. 

At  present,  there  are  in  Russia  a  legate  of  the  Holy 
See,  the  Archbishop  of  Mohilow,  and  several  bishops,  the 
exact  number  I  do  not  know,  and  a  very  considerable 
number  of  the  clergy  of  the  several  rites,  and  monks  and 
friars  of  various  orders,  together  with  the  faithful  attached 
to  them,  in  union  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome  and  the  rest 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         365 

of  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches ;  and  during  the  last 
twenty  or  thirty  years,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  to 
conversion  created  by  the  laws,  the  progress  of  Catholicity 
in  this  vast  empire  has  been  and  continues  to  be  steady 
and  considerable. 

From  the  documents  which  I  have  been  able  to  collect 
and  to  compare,  I  believe  the  following  estimate  will  be 
found  a  pretty  accurate  representation  of  the  religious  situa- 
tion of  the  European  portion  of  Russia : 

Various  divisions  of   the   Russian   established   and   other  similar 

Churches,  separated  from  the   Holy  See,  about 20,000,000 

Roman  Catholics  of   various  rites 9,000,000 

Lutherans 3,000,000 

Other   Protestants 1,500,000 

Mahometans 1,250,000 

Pagans 3,500,000 


Total  population  of   European  Russia , 38,250,000 


EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 
I. 

a  contrast  does  this  country  now  exhibit  to  what 
it  once  was !  How  faded  in  its  religious  glories !  How 
debased  its  morality !  What  a  series  of  instructive  events 
does  its  history  contain !  The  research  of  the  antiquarian, 
the  imagination  of  the  poet,  the  investigation  of  the  phi- 
losopher, the  classic  taste  of  the  scholar,  the  reflection  of 
the  legislator,  may  all  here  find  abundant  employment. 
Here,  too,  the  fragments  which  have  escaped  the  unsparing 
hand  of  time  and  the  ravages  of  barbarism  and  avarice, 
still  exhibit  models  for  an  age  which  boasts  of  its  progress 
beyond  those  which  have  preceded  it.  Upon  this  soil 
liberty  had  its  defenders.  Themistocles  and  Miltiades 
and  Leonidas  are  no  more.  Demosthenes  has  long  been 
silent.  The  productions  of  Apelles  are  decayed,  and  where 
are  the  men?  They  have  vanished  from  this  world — they 


366          HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

exist  in  another.  We  have  no  ground  for  determining  their 
fate.  The  God  who  searches  the  hearts  of  men,  who  alone 
could  judge  of  the  opportunities  which  He  afforded  them, 
and  who  alone  could  determine  how  they  corresponded  with 
those  opportunities,  has  judged  them,  and  has  not  revealed 
that  judgment  to  us.  It  would,  therefore,  be  rashness  and 
presumption  in  us  to  prononnce  upon  the  fate  of  others, 
without  a  sufficient  motive  to  direct  our  judgment.  We 
have  not  such  a  motive,  neither  are  we  constituted  judges- 
over  these  men ;  but  our  duty  is  to  labor  strenuously  in 
turning  to  account  the  opportunities  afforded  to  ourselves. 
And  in  contemplating  the  history  of  religion  in  Greece, 
which  is  the  present  Turkey  in  Europe,  we  have  a  most 
instructive  lesson  for  the  direction  of  our  conduct. 

The  Apostle  St.  Paul  appears  to  have  been  the  first 
Christian  missionary  in  Greece,  at  least  the  first  who  founded 
Churches  and  established  bishops  in  the  country. 

We  read  in  chapter  xvi  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
that  when  St.  Paul  was  at  Troas  in  Lysia  he  saw,  in  a 
dream,  an  inhabitant  of  Macedonia  inviting  him  to  go 
thither  and  help  them ;  on  which  account  he  sailed  from 
Troas,  and  passing  the  Island  of  Samothracia  he  went  to 
Neapolis,  which  was  upon  the  confines  of  Thrace  in  Mace- 
don — thence  he  went  to  Philippi,  and  subsequently  to 
Amphipolis,  Apollonia,  and  Thessalonica  —  whence  he  was 
sent  to  Beroea,  when  he  sailed  to  Athens,  where  he  preached 
in  the  Areopagus ;  subsequently  he  established  the  Church 
of  Corinth. 

After  having  left  Greece  in  the  year  53,  Churches  having 
been  established  in  those  several  places  which  I  mentioned, 
he  remained  some  time  in  Asia;  but,  in  the  year  57,  he 
again  sailed  from  Troas  for  Maccdon  to  revisit  his  Grecian 
Churches ;  and  having  written  from  Macedon  his  second 
epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  he  complains  of  some  divisions 
and  irregularities  amongst  them,  answers  some  questions  pro- 
posed by  them  concerning  marriage  and  celibacy  (c.  vii  and 
xi),  complains  of  some  irregular  practices  at  the  time  of 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         367 

receiving  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and  states  that  upon  his 
arrival  he  will  make  a  regulation  upon  the  subject 
(v.  34).  He  was  at  Corinth  in  the  year  58,  when  he 
wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Romans;  and  St.  Augustine1  informs 
us  that  it  was  then  he  made  the  regulation,  that  no  per- 
son should  receive  the  Holy  Eucharist  except  fasting,  unless 
in  case  of  danger  of  death;  which  was  immediately  adopted 
as  a  general  rule  by  the  whole  Church,  and  has  continued 
unchanged  to  the  present  day.  In  the  next  year  St.  Paul 
left  Greece — and  the  bishops  whom  he  had  established  in 
the  several  churches  zealously  followed  up  his  labors,  and 
soon  spread  the  light  of  the  Gospel  through  that  country. 

Amongst  the  bishops  who  governed  those  Churches,  the 
most  remarkable  in  the  first  and  second  ages  were  St. 
Denis,  the  Areopagite,  first  Bishop  of  Athens,  appointed 
and  consecrated  by  St.  Paul  to  that  charge  in  the  year 
51 ;  St.  Denis,  Bishop  of  Corinth  in  the  time  of  Pope 
Soter,  about  the  year  170;  Publius,  who  was  Bishop  of 
Athens  in  the  year  1 50 ;  and  his  successor,  Quadratus,. 
who  was  one  of  the  first  apologists  for  the  Christians,  he 
having  drawn  up  and  sent  one  to  the  Emperor  Adrian ; 
Athenagoras,  an  Athenian  philosopher,  who  had  been  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  also  presented  an  apology  for  the 
Christians  in  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius. 

Greece  also  gave  many  martyrs  to  the  Church  in  the 
succeeding  ages ;  but  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  only  ferti- 
lized the  soil  of  Christianity. 

In  the  year  323,  by  the  defeat  of  Licinius,  Constantine 
the  Great  found  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  Empire; 
and  in  that  year,  at  Byzantium,  in  Thrace,  he  had  deter- 
mined to  think  of  becoming  a  Christian.  He  had  not 
been  altogether  uninstructed  in  its  principles,  having  imbibed 
them  from  his  holy  mother,  St.  Helena.  Upon  his  arrival 
at  Byzantium,  he  was  waited  upon  by  a  deputation  of 
Pagan  philosophers,  who  represented  to  him  the  great  evils 
that  would  flow  from  innovation,  and  the  folly  of  changing 

i  Ep.  118  ad.  Jan. 


368         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

from  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  and  the  possibility  of  serving 
God  with  a  good  heart  under  any  system  of  religion. 
Alexander,  the  Bishop  of  Byzantium,  was  called  before  the 
emperor  and  asked  if  he  could  answer  their  arguments. 
The  bishop  requested  one  to  be  selected  to  speak  for  all; 
•and  after  he  had  commenced  his  train  of  reasoning,  Alex- 
ander stated  that  he  was  no  great  logician,  but  the  servant 
of  a  God  of  might,  who  could  instantly  confound  human 
pride,  and  commanded  the  philosopher,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  be  silent.  He  was  struck  dumb.  Con- 
stantine  immediately  afterwards  published  edicts  favorable  to 
the  Christians ;  and  upon  the  site  of  Byzantium,  he  raised 
the  city  which,  after  himself,  he  called  Constantinople,  and 
which,  from  being  the  seat  of  the  empire,  was  frequently 
•called  New  Rome. 

Arius,  the  author  of  an  impious  and  blasphemous  heresy 
in  Alexandria,  the  capital  of  Egypt,  came  to  Constantinople 
to  try  and  make  interest  with  the  emperor.  Alexander 
refused  to  receive  him  into  communion  or  permit  him  to 
enter  any  of  the  churches  of  his  diocese ;  but  Arianism 
insinuated  itself  into  Greece  and  caused  much  calamity. 
Sometimes  the  emperors  and  courtiers  upheld  the  Arians 
and  persecuted  the  Catholics.  After  the  time  of  Constan- 
tine,  the  See  of  Constantinpple  was  raised  to  the  metro- 
politan dignity;  it  had  been  previously  suffragan  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Heraclea,  in  Thrace.  An  attempt  was  made 
in  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  in  451,  to  elevate  its  rank 
above  every  other  see,  except  Rome ;  and  by  the  contriv- 
ance of  the  clergy  of  Constantinople  and  several  of  the 
suffragans  and  neighboring  bishops,  a  canon  to  that  effect 
was  voted ;  it  was  the  28th ;  but  St.  Leo,  who  was  then 
Pope,  gave  his  sanction  only  to  the  first  27,  thereby 
excluding  that  which  was  the  28th,  and  a  number  of  other 
canons  which  were  irregularly  passed  after  the  departure 
of  the  legates,  Paschasinus,  Bishop  of  Lilybum,  Lucentius, 
Bishop  of  Ascoli,  and  Boniface,  a  priest  of  Rome,  who 
presided  in  the  name  of  St.  Leo,  together  with  several 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         369 

other  prelates.  St.  Protarius,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and 
the  bishops  of  Egypt,  together  with  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Oriental  prelates,  also  opposed  this  innovation;  and  for 
.some  time  the  bishops  of  Constantinople  relinquished  their 
pretentions. 

In  the  year  553,  the  second  general  council  of  Constan- 
tinople was  held,  and  a  new  attempt  was  made  to  raise 
that  see  to  the  patriarchal  dignity  and  to  extend  its  juris- 
•diction.  This  was  scarcely  resisted,  and  Constantinople 
.thenceforward  ranked  next  in  dignity  to  Rome. 

We  have,  in  the  history  of  the  Greek  Church,  which 
may  be  said  principally  to  consist  in  the  history  of  the 
•See  of  Constantinople,  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  melan- 
•choly  exhibitions  of  the  fatal  consequences  of  the  domination 
-of  worldly  power  over  the  affairs  of  the  Church ;  and  in 
the  exhibition  of  to-day,  we  have  the  confirmation  of  my 
.assertion.  If  religion  be  made  to  depend  for  its  support 
upon  worldly  means  or  the  power  of  princes  or  States,  it 
will  become  the  sport  of  human  folly  and  the  prey  of 
Jmman  passion.  Constantinople  was  elevated  to  dignity  by 
iiuman  power  and  worldly  intrigue,  and  those  same  causes 
Jhave  also  produced  its  degradation. 

Before  the  death  of  Alexander,  bishop  of  that  see  in 
340,  Paul,  a  native  of  Thesalonica,  who  had  been  a  deacon 
•of  his  church,  was  recommended  by  that  prelate  as  his 
'successor.  He  was  regularly  appointed  and  consecrated. 
JJut  the  Arian  party  were  desirous  of  having  one  who 
would  favor  their  views ;  and  accordingly  they  raised  up 
Maeedonius,  one  of  their  partisans,  to  be  Paul's  competitor. 
The  Emperor  Constantius  banished  Paul  and  Maeedonius, 
-and  invited  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  to  govern  that 
see.  Thus  we  perceive  how  soon  worldly  domination  began 
to  exhibit  itself  upon  the  profession  of  the  faith  by  the 
emperors,  and  how  quickly  they  found  amongst  the  clergy 
Avilling  instruments.  Paul  took  refuge  with  St.  Maximinus 
Bishop  of  Triers,  in  Gaul,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Rome, 
for  the  purpose  of  laying  his  case  before  the  Pope.  Here 

24 


370         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

he  found  St.  Athanasius,  who  had  come  for  a  like  purpose, 
uuder  similar  circumstances,  having  been  driven  from  his 
See  of  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  by  the  Arians  also. 

Pope  Julius  I  was  holding  a  synod,  which  was  attended 
by  eighty  bishops;  and  after  examining  the  cases  of  Athan- 
asius  and  Paul,  he  restored  them  to  their  sees,  and  sent 
them  back  with  letters  of  injunction  to  their  flocks. 
Eusebius,  however,  kept  forcible  possession  of  the  See  of 
Constantinople  until  his  death,  about  nine  or  ten  months 
after.  The  Arians  had  gained  considerable  sway  over  Con- 
stantius,  and  again  procured  the  banishment  of  Paul. 

Hermogenes,  his  general,  was  ordered  by  Constant!  us,  who 
was  in  Antioch  upon  his  way  to  Thrace,  to  pass  by  Con- 
stantinople and  to  drive  Paul  out  of  the  city.  The  people 
resisted  the  general,  and  he  was  slain.  Constantius  came 
to  the  city,  pardoned  the  people,  and  banished  the  bishop. 
Paul,  upon  his  own  application  and  at  the  request  of  the 
Pope,  received,  in  344,  letters  from  Constans,  the  Emperor 
of  the  West,  to  his  brother  Constantius,  requesting  he  would 
suffer  the  bishop  to  remain  in  his  see  for  the  government  of 
his  Church.  Thus,  he  was  enabled  to  remain  until  350, 
when,  Constans  dying,  his  enemies  succeeded  in  procuring  his 
banishment,  and  he  was,  in  351,  strangled  in  prison  in 
Cucusus,  a  small  town  in  a  most  unhealthy  situation  in  the 
deserts  of  Mount  Taurus,  upon  the  confines  of  Cappadocia 
and  Armenia,  having  been  previously  left  six  days  without 
food  in  his  dungeon. 

Philip,  the  prefect  of  the  Pretorian  band,  was  the  officer 
commissioned  to  remove  Paul  from  his  see — and  knowing 
the  facility  of  exciting  a  tumult  in  Constantinople  he,  though 
an  Arian,  privately  sent  for  Paul,  and  showed  him  the 
order  for  his  banishment,  requesting  that,  to  preserve  peace, 
he  would  quietly  obey.  Meantime  a  crowd  had  assembled 
outside  the  bath  where  the  bishop  and  the  prefect  con- 
versed. The  bishop,  seeing  contention  useless,  consented — 
and  the  prefect  caused  a  passage  to  be  privately  broken 
through  the  rear  of  the  building,  through  which  the  bishop 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         371 

escaped,  and   lay    concealed   in   the   palace    until    lie   tfas    em- 
barked  for   the   place   of  his    destiny. 

Philip  next  proceeded  to  fulfill  the  other  part  of  his 
commission,  and  took  Macedonius  in  state  to  be  installed 
in  the  Cathedral.  The  Catholics  and  the  Novations  united 
in  their  opposition,  blocked  up  the  passages,  and  refused 
to  make  "way;  the  military  were  brought  out,  and  upwards 
of  three  thousand  persons  were  killed  on  both  sides.  The 
prefect  conducted  Macedonius  into  the  church  and  placed 
him  in  possession  of  the  episcopal  throne.  The  intruder 
now  turned  his  attention  to  annoy  the  Novatians,  and  find- 
ing they  were  pretty  numerous  in  Paphlagonia  he  procured 
an  order  from  the  emperor  to  have  four  regiments  sent  to 
compel  them  to  embrace  Arianism.  The  Paphlagonians  pre- 
pared for  the  contest,  and  the  soldiers  were  nearly  all  slain. 

Upon  a  subsequent  occasion  he  was  opposed  by  the  people 
in  an  attempt  to  remove  the  body  of  Constantiue  from  the 
Church  of  the  Apostles  to  that  of  St.  Acacius,  which  caused 
dreadful  carnage  in  the  churches.  The  emperor,  at  length, 
weary  of  the  repetition  of  these  scenes,  undertook  to  depose 
him.  Macedonius  now  hated  the  Arians  equally  as  he  did 
the  Catholics.  The  former  denied  the  divinity  of  the  Son 
of  God — the  latter  believed  in  the  divinity  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Macedonius,  in 
order  to  oppose  both,  asserted  the  divinity  of  the  Son,  and 
denied  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost — thus  forming  a  new  sect, 
which,  after  him,  were  called  Macedonians  and  Pneuinato- 
machics,  and  other  times  Marathonians ;  the  first  name  they 
derived  from  their  founder — the  second  from  the  peculiarity 
of  their  doctrine,  opposers  of  the  Holy  Ghost — the  third 
from  Marathon,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  who  was  a  principal 
abettor  of  their  errors,  and  without  whose  aid  it  is  sup- 
posed the  sect  never  would  have  been  formed.  This  error 
spread  principally  through  Thrace,  along  the  shores  of  the 
Hellespont,  and  in  Bithynia,  and  was  condemned  in  the 
first  Council  of  Constantinople  in  381. 

The   perpetual  interference  of  the  emperors  and  their  offi- 


372         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

cers,  who  sometimes  were  Catholics,  and  sometimes  mem- 
bers of  some  one  of  the  various  new  heresies  which  wTere 
perpetually  ravaging  the  Church  of  Constantinople,  together 
with  the  restless  spirit  of  its  population,  caused  the  greatest 
disorders  and  irregularities  in  this  Church.  St.  John  Chry- 
sostom  and  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  two  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  of  the  Christian  world,  were  bishops  of  this  see, 
and  suffered  the  greatest  persecutions  and  afflictions  for  their 
attempts  to  preserve  Church  discipline. 

At  the  Council  in  381  the  title  of  St.  Gregory  Isazian- 
zen  to  the  See  of  Constantinople  was  recognized ;  but,  find- 
ing that  he  could  not  preserve  the  peace  of  the  Church 
consistently  with  its  discipline,  he  resigned,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Nectarius.  The  emperor  wrote  to  the  Pope, 
requesting  that,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  he  would  confirm 
these  acts. 

II. 

I  have  merely  glanced  at  the  prominent  facts  which  the 
early  history  of  this  portion  of  the  Church  exhibits.  We 
have  seen,  however,  that  Byzantium  was  an  episcopal  see, 
subjeqt  to  the  Archbishop  of  Heraclea,  in  Thrace,  and  that 
although  this  town  was  by  Constantino  enlarged  and  orna- 
mented and  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  capital  of  the 
empire,  this  made  no  change  in  the  bishop's  title,  until 
subsequently,  after  much  exertion,  first  it  was  raised  to  be 
an  archbishopric,  then  began  to  lay  claim  to  the  patriarchal 
dignity,  not  from  any  allegation  of  original  divine  right,  but 
from  the  concession  of  some  councils  and  the  voluntary 
submission  of  some  bishops.  Still,  however,  in  the  year 
381,  this  claim  was  not  recognized  by  Rome  nor  generally 
admitted. 

la  the  year  381  a  provincial  council  was  held  in  that 
city,,  at  which  St.  Meletius,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  presided, 
and  during  the  celebration  of  which  he  died.  He  was  keld 
in  such  esteem  for  his  sanctity  that  the  people  pressed 
round  the  dead  body  to  touch  it  with  linen,  which  they 


HISTORICAL   SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         373 

afterwards  preserved  as  relics.  The  acts  of  this  council 
were  afterwards  received  by  the  whole  Church,  and  thus  it 
has  the  authority,  of  a  general  council  from  its  acceptation. 

The  second  canon  of  this  council  regulates  the  discipline 
of  jurisdiction  and  boundary,  prohibiting  the  bishops  from 
creating  confusion  by  interfering  in  the  concerns  of  other 
Churches,  and  renews  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Nice 
by  forming  the  provinces,  stating  that  Alexandria  should 
govern  the  province  of  Egypt;  the  eastern  bishops  should 
regulate  their  own.  discipline,  paying  due  honor  to  the  pri- 
macy of  the  Church  of  Antioch,  according  to  the  Nicene 
statutes ;  the  bishops  of  Asia  Minor  should  also  regulate 
their  own  discipline ;  those  of  Pontius  that  of  their  prov- 
ince, and  the  bishops  of  Thrace  that  of  this  province. 
This  canon  is  found  also  in  its  proper  place  in  the  code 
of  canon  law,  9  qti.  2  cap.  Episcopi  qui  extra.  The  thirty- 
fourth  of  the  apostolic  canons  had  previously  made  a  sim- 
ilar enactment,  so  far  only  as  regarded  ordinations,  under 
the  penalty  of  deposition  of  the  person  ordaining  and  of 
those  ordained.  The  Greek  copy  of  this  canon  of  Con- 
stantinople has  a  paragraph  which  is  not  found  in  the  Latin 
copy,  regulating,  that  "the  Churches  amongst  the  barbarians 
shall  be  administered  according  to  the  custom  of  the  fathers, 
which  has  been  preserved." 

The  canon  of  the  Council  of  Nice  principally  referred 
to  is  the  sixth.  The  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  have  also  a 
bearing  upon  the  case.  Gratian  quotes  a  canon  of  the 
Council  of  Antioch,  held  in  341,  under  Julius  I,  to  the 
same  effect.  (Episcopum  non  debere,  cap.  9  quaest.  9 ;  in 
others,  quaest.  2).  This  was  the  thirteenth  canon  of  Antioch; 
and  in  the  twenty-second  of  the  same  synod,  the  principle 
v»-us  applied  to  special  cases.  This  Council  of  Antioch  was 
far  from  being  general,  and  some  of  its  canons  were  rejected; 
Imt  the  thirteenth  and  twenty-second  are'  amongst  those 
received  and  confirmed,  as  having  been  founded  upon  the 
principle  of  the  canon  of  the  general  Council  of  Nice,  and 
confirmed  by  the  first  Council  of  Constantinople,  which 


374        HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

became  general  by  acceptation ;  and  in  the  year  410  Pope 
Innocent  T,  who  rejected  some  of  the  canons  of  this  council 
and  admitted  others,  received  and  confirmed  the  thirteenth 
and  twenty-second.  It  was  upheld  by  several  other  decisions 
during  upwards  of  eleven  hundred  years ;  it  was  finally  rati- 
fied by  the  Council  of  Trent,  when  that  council  remodelled 
the  discipline,  and  repealed  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
canons  of  the  preceding  ages.  In  the  sixth  session,  held 
on  the  13th  of  January,  1547,  the  fifth  canon  of  reforma- 
tion, which  was  the  last  canon  of  that  session,  re-enacts 
and  confirms  the  principle  of  the  second  canon  of  the  first 
Council  of  Constantinople,  with  a  penalty  nearly  similar  to 
that  of  the  thirty-fourth  apostolic  canon,  and  the  editor 
quotes  as  precedents  those  two  canons,  together  with  those 
of  Nice  and  Antioch ;  the  thirteenth  of  the  second  Council 
of  Aries,  about  442;  the  third  and  nineteenth  canons  of 
the  Council  of  Sardica,  in  the  year  347,  under  the  famous 
Osius,  Bishop  of  Cordova;  and  the  fifteenth  canon  of  the 
third  Council  of  Orleans,  held  in  538. 

There  was,  however,  a  special  object  in  passing  this  second 
canon  at  Constantinople,  which  was  only  exhibited  by  the 
production  of  the  third  canon.  Thrace  having  been  now 
made  a  province,  and  placed  upon  an  equality  with  Egypt 
and  the  province  of  Antioch,  there  having  been  also  a 
number  of  new  provinces  created,  which  were  not  previ- 
ously known,  the  next  regulation  should  concern  their  rank. 
In  Nice,  the  only  patriarchates  recognized  were  Antioch, 
which  had  formerly  been  the  See  of  Peter,  and  Alexandria, 
which  was  the  see  of  his  disciple,  St.  Mark.  Other  prov- 
inces of  minor  note  were  referred  to,  without  being  named; 
but  now  we  find  not  only  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  but 
also  Asia  Minor,  Pontus,  and  Thrace. 

The  third  canon  then  proceeds  to  give  Constantinople 
the  first  rank  amongst  those,  and  enacts :  "  Let  the  Bishop 
of  Constantinople  have  the  first  place  of  honor  after  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  because  Constantinople  is  New  Rome." 

This    canon   was    not   approved    of   by    the    Pope,    nor   was 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         375 

it  accepted  together  with  the  other  canons  in  the  West, 
nor  in  Egypt,  though  it  was  partially  received  in  Syria 
and  in  Asia  Minor.  The  patriarchate  of  Antioch  did  not 
comprehend  Thrace.  That  country  was  in  the  western 
patriarchate,  which,  upon  two  grounds,  therefore,  required 
the  assent  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  for  any  change  in 
territorial  jurisdiction  or  precedence,  first  as  patriarch  of 
that  special  district,  and  next  as  head  of  the  whole  Church. 
Yet,  though  it  was  not  ratified  by  him,  it  was  acted  upon 
voluntarily  by  those  who  enacted  it;  and  we  find  also  the 
second  canon  violated  almoct  immediately,  for  the  Bishop 
of  Constantinople  not  only  governed  Thrace,  but  interfered 
in  Pontus  and  Asia  Minor,  and  part  of  Antioch ;  and  the 
emperors  who  were  anxious  to  add  as  much  as  possible 
to  the  splendor  of  the  new  imperial  city,  gave  their  coun- 
tenance and  support  to  the  usurpation ;  but  to  this  day 
the  consequences  of  endeavoring  to  create  and  uphold 
spiritual  power  by  such  means,  have  destroyed  religion  in 
this  miserable  Church. 

About  this  time,  the  errors  of  Apollinaris,  Bishop  of 
Laodicea,  made  some  progress  in  the  Churches  of  Greece. 
The  principle  of  his  error  was  found  in  the  doctrines  of 
Pythagorean  philosophy.  The  reputed  sage  had  taught  that 
man  had  two  souls,  the  rational  and  the  sensitive,  the  one 
a  pure  spirit  which  possessed  the  higher  powers  of  our 
nature,  the  other  a  nondescript  substance,  which  was  the 
receptacle  of  sensation  and  the  seat  of  passion.  Apollinaris 
taught  that  Christ  had  the  sensitive  soul,  but  not  the 
rational  soul,  the  existence  of  which  he  contended  would 
be  useless  in  consequence  of  the  union  of  the  divinity. 
St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  who  had  abdicated  the  See  of  Con- 
stantinople, which  was  now  governed  by  Nectarius,  opposed 
this  error  in  the  East,  and  St.  Ambrose,  of  Milan,  wrote 
against  it  in  the  West,  and  St.  Anathasius  in  Africa. 

The  successor  of  Nectarius  was  St.  John  Chrysostom. 
This  holy  man  used  all  the  influence  of  his  zeal,  his 
eloquence,  and  his  piety,  to  restore  the  discipline  of  the 


37G         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

Church,  but  the  power  of  the  court  was  too  strong,  and 
his  efforts  were  unavailing.  The  Empress  Eudoxia  always 
found  a  sufficient  number  of  the  clergy  ready  to  aid  her 
in  her  projects  of  persecution  against  a  prelate  who  was 
alike  unmoved  by  the  threats  of  power  or  the  blandish- 
ments of  luxury.  He  was  frequently  banished  for  the 
discharge  of  duty  and  as  often  recalled.  On  Easter  eve, 
A.  D.  404,  four  hundred  soldiers  attacked  the  faithful,  who 
followed  him  to  a  private  chapel,  where  he  was  baptizing 
the  catechumens,  as  he  could  not  consistently  with  the 
principles  of  the  Church  go  into  the  cathedral.  Vast  num- 
bers were  slain,  the  baptismal  fonts  filled  with  blood,  the 
very  Eucharist  trampled  under  foot  by  savages  who  called 
themselves  Catholics.  The  holy  bishop  ended  his  days  in 
exile,  from  the  hardships  he  endured  on  his  transportation 
to  Armenia,  in  the  month  of  September,  407. 

Arsacius,  brother  to  Nectarius,  the  former  prelate,  was- 
intruded  upon  the  Church,  but  Pope  Innocent  I  refused  to- 
recognize  or  receive  him  into  communion,  and  he  was  sup- 
ported by  the  court.  This  was  the  first  schism  between 
the  Latin  and  Greek  Churches.  Fourteen  months  after 
this,  Anticus,  an  Armenian  monk,  was  promoted  to  this 
see,  and  was  received  into  communion  upon  his  erasing 
from  the  dyptics  of  his  Church  the  name  of  Arsacius,  and 
substituting  that  of  John  Chrysostom,  which  the  usurper 
had  erased.  The  Church  of  Alexandria  had  the  misfortune 
to  have  at  its  head,  previously  to  this,  Theophilus,  the 
worst  enemy  of  St.  John  Chrysostom ;  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  nephew,  Cyril,  who  made  a  similar  change  in  the 
dyptics  of  Alexandria  to  that  which  Atticus  made  in  those 
of  Constantinople.  Atticus  was  succeeded  by  Sisinnius;  and 
after  his  death,  Nestorius  was  brought  thither  from  Antiocli, 
in  428. 

III. 

Scarcely  was  Nestorius  fixed  in  his  see  when  he  began 
to  introduce  erroneous  doctrines  which  he  had  imbibed 
from  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia.  He  taught  in  his  cathedral 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         377 

that  Christ  had  two  persons  as  he  had  two  natures,  and 
therefore,  that  the  expression  which  was  usual  amongst 
Christians  when  speaking  of  the  blessed  Virgin  was  incor- 
rect— that  they  should  not  style  her  Mother  of  God,  because 
she  was  only  mother  of  the  human  person,  but  not  of  the 
divine  person.  The  people  rose  up  instantly  and  interrupted 
him  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse,  stating  that  he  was 
changing  their  doctrines,  and  that  if  an  angel  from  heaven 
were  to  preach  ac  different  doctrine  from  what  they  had 
received  from  Jesus  Christ  through  the  Apostles  and  their 
successors,  they  could  not  receive  it,  for  they  were  bound 
to  believe  the  revelations  of  God,  and  it  would  be  impiety 
to  believe  doctrines  contradictory  to  what  Jesus  Christ 
delivered. 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  fell  into  his  error  by  too  vio- 
lently opposing  Apollinaris.  Nestor  ius  carried  the  false 
principles  of  Theodore  to  farther  results  than  his  teacher, 
and  thus  in  their  consequences  proved  their  falsehood. 
Besides  endeavoring  to  abolish  the  expression  respecting  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  which  had  been  always  known  in  the- 
Church,  Nestorius  tried  also  to  banish  other  phrases  equally 
consecrated  by  truth  and  usage,  and  which  the  pagans  cited 
as  proofs  of  the  folly  of  Christianity:  "A  God  has  died," 
"  God  has  suffered."  Nestorius  stated  that  those  expressions 
arose  from  a  mistake  of  the  doctrine,  but  his  flock  contended 
that  their  belief  was  correct  and  his  doctrine  a  novelty. 

The  new  archbishop  was  in  high  favor  at  court  and 
immediately  procured  the  aitl  of  the  civil  and  military 
power  for  his  support,  but  the  people  Avould  not  change 
their  faith.  As  every  error  will  necessarily  create  opposition,, 
and  that  opposition  create  noise  and  tumult,  not  only  was 
this  wretched  Church  now  torn  into  factions,  but  these  also- 
communicated  their  feelings  and  opinions  to  their  neighbors, 
so  that  all  Greece  and  a  considerable  portion  of  Asia  and 
Egypt  became  embroiled.  St.  Cyril,  the  Patriarch  of  Alex- 
andria, having  been  consulted  by  some  of  the  monks  of 
his  district,  decided  that  the  Archbishop  of  Constantinople 


•378         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

had  erred.  Nestorius  had  the  decision  of  Cyril  answered 
by  Photius,  to  which  Cyril  replied,  and  now  the  contest 
•was  violent. 

Acacius,  Bishop  of  Berea,  and  John,  Patriarch  of  Antioch, 
•condemned  Nestorius,  but  were  of  opinion  that  Cyril  was 
too  violent.  Cyril  and  Nestorius  had  both  written  to  Pope 
•Celestin,  who  held  a  provincial  council  at  Rome,  in  which 
Nestorianism  was  condemned,  as  it  was  also  in  a  provincial 
council  held  by  Cyril  in  Egypt.  Nestorius  retorted  its  own 
anathemas  upon  the  synod  of  Alexandria,  and  appealed  to 
a  general  council.  This  general  council  was  held  at  Ephesus 
in  431,  and  Nestorius  was  condemned  there;  after  which, 
the  more  strongly  to  mark  their  faith,  the  Catholics  took  , 
every  occasion  of  using  the  very  phrases  which  Nestorius 
strove  to  abolish — "Holy  Mary,  Mother  of  God,  pray  for 
us  sinners  now  and  at  the  hour  of  our  death,"  etc.  Nes- 
torius, having  been  deposed,  retired  to  a  monastery,  but 
did  not  embrace  the  true  faith.  The  Emperor  Theodosius 
the  younger  prohibited  the  assemblies  of  the  Nestorians, 
and  banished  numbers  of  them,  who  went  principally  to 
Persia  and  Syria. 

This  same  Theodosius  had  the  relics  of  St.  John  Chry- 
sostom  brought  with  great  pomp  from  the  East  to  Constan- 
tinople, in  the  time  of  Proclus,  the  successor  of  Nestorius. 
Flavian  succeeded  Proclus,  and  in  his  time  another  heresy 
originated  in  this  city.  Eutyches,  the  archimandrite  or 
abbot  of  a  monastery  near  Constantinople,  was  its  author. 

The  rage  of  opposition  to  Nestorianism  was  such  amongst 
this  speculative  and  hot-headed  people,  that  it  was  easy  to 
lead  them  to  the  other  extreme.  Nothing  was  wanted  but 
a  leader,  and  Eutyches  was  fitted  for  that  post.  Austere 
•and  mortified,  his  appearance  of  sanctity,  together  with  the 
situation  which  he  held,  gave  him  weight  with  the  multi- 
tude, who  were  greatly  taken  with  the  vehemence  of  his 
declamations  against  Nestorianism.  He  was  more  headstrong 
and  obstinate  than  intelligent  or  well  informed,  and  he  was 
held  in  some  estimation  at  court.  His  spirit  had  also 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         379 

something  of  a  disposition  to  persecute,  and  he  is  looked 
upon  as  a  promoter  of  the  severities  inflicted  upon  the 
Xestorians. 

Eutyches  inveighed  against  the  impiety  of  those  who 
dared  to  say  that  in  Jesus  Christ  there  were  two  persons, 
when  there  were  not  even  two  natures ;  for  although  the 
Son  of  God  assumed  our  nature,  in  Him  it  was  destroyed. 
It  was  no  longer  human  nature  after  the  personal  union ; 
Jesus  Christ  had  then  but  one  person  and  one  nature. 
The  Nestorian  denied  that  Christ  was  one  person  possessing 
two  natures.  Eutyches  denied  that  Christ  had  two  natures 
in  one  person.  The  Catholic  Church  has  always  taught 
that  in  Christ  there  are  two  natures,  the  divine  and  human, 
united  in  one  person.  The  errors  of  Eutyches  were  spread 
through  several  monasteries,  and  found  their  way  into 
Egypt  and  the  East.  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Dorylea,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  earliest  opponents  of  Xestorius,  was 
also  one  of  the  first  to  detect  the  error  of  Eutyches. 
Finding  his  remonstrances  with  the  archimandrite  unavailing, 
he  presented  a  formal  complaint  for  heresy,  without  speci- 
fying the  tenets  against  him,  to  Flavian,  who  then  presided 
in  a  synod  at  Constantinople,  which  was  held  to  regulate 
a  dispute  between  the  metropolitan  of  Lydia  and  two  of 
his  suffragans. 

The  abbot  was  summoned  to  attend,  but  feigned  several 
excuses,  and  had  it  privately  whispered  through  the  monas- 
teries that  Flavian  was  a  tyrant,  who  would  not  admit  him 
to  communion  unless  he  signed  a  paper  which  he  did  not 
understand.  Being  obliged  to  appear  before  the  synod,  he 
was  convicted;  but  availing  himself  of  his  credit  at  court, 
he  obtained  through  the  emperor  an  order  for  a  council  at 
Ephesus.  Dioscorus,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  aasumed  the 
presidency.  Together  with  a  small  party  which  was  attached 
to  Eutyches,  he  disregarded  the  authority  of  the  papal  legates 
who  came  to  preside,  deposed  Flavian  and  those  who  had 
suspended  and  condemned  the  archmandrite.  Him  they 
restored,  and  then  finding  the  majority  of  bishops  to  be 


380         HISTORICAL   SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

opposed  to  their  acts,  Dioscorus  introduced  the  army,  which 
was  at  his  command.  The  orthodox  bishops  protested 
against  this  violence,  but  the  opposite  party  cried  out  to 
put  down  their  opponents.  Flavian  was  trodden  to  such  a 
state  as  soon  produced  his  death,  and  others  with  difficulty 
escaped.  None  of  the  acts  of  this  horrid  assembly  have 
been  received  by  the  Church.  Pope  St.  Leo  condemned 
this  synod,  and  did  all  he  coukl  to  prevail  on  Theodosius 
to  suffer  a  proper  council  to  assemble,  but  he  would  not 
consent.  The  Pope  saw  it  would  be  useless  to  convoke  it 
in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  emperor;  but  Theodo- 
sius soon  dying,  Marcian,  his  successor,  afforded  every 
facility,  and  a  general  council  was  held  at  Chalcedon,  in 
which  Eutyches  was  condemned,  in  the  year  451.  This 
was  the  fourth  general  council.  Dioscorus  was  deposed  and 
banished. 

Anatolius  contrived  to  get  into  the  See  of  Constantinople, 
after  the  death  of  Flavian ;  and  his  ambition  urged  him 
in  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  to  attempt  elevating  the  rank 
of  Constantinople.  Favored  by  the  court  and  a  consider- 
able number  of  the  bishops,  a  resolution  w"as  obtained  in 
one  of  the  sessions,  after  the  regular  business  had  been 
disposed  of,  by  which  resolution  it  was  agreed,  "  That  since 
the  Church  of  Constantinople  has  the  honor  equally  with 
Rome  of  being  an  imperial  city  and  the  seat  of  a  senate, 
it  ought  to  enjoy  equal  privilege  and  dignity  with  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  therefore  the  provinces  of  Pontus 
and  Asia  and  Thrace  ought  to  belong  to  its  jurisdiction, 
and  be  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  and  that 
their  metropolitans  should  thenceforward  be  consecrated  at 
Constantinople." 

But  when  this  was  read  in  presence  of  the  legates  they 
immediately  rejected  and  condemned  it,  stating  that  their 
instructions  from  the  Pope  upon  the  subject  were  clear  and 
definite. 

The  Fathers  who  had  agreed  to  it  were  further  pre- 
vailed upon  to  write  to  the  Pope,  requesting  he  would 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         381 

confirm  what  his  legates  had  refused  to  sanction,  and  their 
own  words  will  exhibit  the  influence  which  was  employed. 
After  stating  their  condemnation  of  Eutyches  in  conformity 
with  the  wishes  of  the  Pope,  and  concurring  with  his 
legates,  they  continue :  "  "\Ve  have  thought  fit  to  regulate 
some  points  of  discipline,  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the 
Church,  in  giving  to  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  the  next 
rank  after  Rome,  but  your  legates  have  opposed  it — though 
we  have  only  in  this  confirmed  the  judgment  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fifty  bishops  assembled  in  Constantinople  in 
the  reign  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  which  bishops  decreed 
also  that  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  should  have  priv- 
ilege next  after  your  Holy  See.  In  opposing  it,  we  sup- 
pose your  legates  were  only  moved  by  the  desire  of 
leaving  to  you  the  honor  of  doing  personally  this  act, 
which  is  to  insure-  the  peace  of  the  Church.  In  our 
decree  we  have  been  influenced  by  the  wish  of  the  em- 
peror, the  desire  of  the  senate,  and  the  request  of  the 
whole  imperial  city.  By  your  confirmation  you  will  insure 
the  everlasting  gratitude  and  strict  adherence  of  the  See  of 
Constantinople.  And  as  the  credit  of  the  good  actions  of 
children  redound  to  the  glory  of  their  father,  we  pray  you 
to  honor  our  decrees  by  your  judgment ;  and  as  we,  your 
children,  have  joined  in  your  judgment  of  faith,  so  you, 
our  head,  may  in  return  concur  in  the  regulation  which 
we  have  originated  as  productive  of  great  good.  By  so 
doing,  you  will  also  highly  gratify  the  emperor  and  the 
imperial  city." 

St.  Leo  refused  his  sanction,  and  wrote  to  the  emperor 
and  to  his  religious  empress  and  to  the  Archbishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, expostulating  with  them  and  giving  the  reasons 
for  his  refusal,  stating,  amongst  others,  that  the  civil 
dignity  of  a  city  was  no  ground  for  its  ecclesiastical  pre- 
eminence. It  may  also  be  remarked,  that  in  this  council 
there  was  no  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  to  make  opposition, 
for  in  the  very  first  session  Dioscorus  had  been  deposed. 
Juvenal  of  Jerusalem  held  but  an  honorary  distinction  void 


382         HISTORICAL   SKETCHES- EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

of  jurisdiction,  and  Maximus  of  Antioch  did  not  appear  to 
interest  himself;  for  by  giving  Pontus  and  Asia  proper  to 
Constantinople,  together  with  Thrace,  there  was  no  encroach- 
ment upon  his  jurisdiction,  as  it  did  not  extend  north  of 
Mount  Taurus  and  the  river  Tigris.  But  the  bishops  of 
the  province  of  Ephesus  strongly  opposed  it.  Another 
lemark  which  should  be  made  here  is,  that  even  at  this 
period  Greece  proper,  which  is  the  ancient  Peloponnesus 
and  Achaia,  together  with  Macedonia,  Epirus,  and  Illyricum, 
were  not  in  the  patriarchate  formed  or  intended  to  be 
formed  for  Constantinople,  but  were  in  the  western  patri- 
archate, of  which  Thrace  was  originally  a  portion. 

Though  the  canons  by  which  it  was  hitherto  attempted  to- 
raise  Constantinople  were  thus  rendered  invalid,  still  they 
were  not  inoperative.  The  ambition  of  the  emperors  and 
their  courtiers,  and  sometimes  the  ambition  and  sometimes 
the  weakness  of  the  archbishops  of  the  new  imperial  cityr 
joined  to  the  submission  of  the  bishops  of  the  new 
division,  gave  virtually  an  efficacy  to  the  regulation.  Ana- 
tolius  exercised  the  power  by  the  consent  sometimes  of 
those  over  whom  he  claimed  jurisdiction,  and  at  other 
times  aided  by  the  civil  power  he  compelled  submission. 
This  introduction  of  the  civil  power  to  cause  the  execu- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  decrees  has  been  the  ruin  of  Church 
discipline,  and  has  laid  the  foundation  of  the  intermeddling 
of  kings  and  emperors  with  Church  concerns,  and  has  been 
productive,  upon  the  whole,  of  incalculable  mischief. 

After  the  death  of  Anatolius,  Gennadius,  a  good  and 
pious  bishop,  governed  the  Church  of  Constantinople  during 
a  few  years,  and  upon  his  death,  in  471,  Acacius,  a  bishop 
of  a  very  different  character,  occupied  his  place. 

The  Emperor  Marcian  died  in  457,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Leo  Marcelles,  who  reigned  until  474,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Zeno  the  Isaurian,  who  filled  the  throne 
until  491,  with  the  exception  of  the  period  that  Basiliscus 
tyrannized  in  Constantinople,  during  the  temporary  abdica- 
tion of  Zcno  and  his  flight  into  Isauria. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

During  that  period  the  dreadful  effects  of  this  new 
interference  in  ecclesiastical  concerns  exhibited  themselves. 
When  the  Christians  were  persecuted  by  the  emperors, 
religion  was  preserved  pure  and  uncontaminated ;  but  when 
the  emperors  became  the  protectors  of  the  Church,  and  the 
union  of  Church  and  State  was  formed,  bishops  became 
courtiers,  and  the  episcopacy  was  now  in  a  place  of  less 
trouble,  less  danger,  less  privation,  more  honor,  more 
wealth,  and  more  influence.  Courtiers  regulated  Church 
affairs  by  the  principles  of  human  policy,  and  the  \  Church 
was  agitated  by  the  concussions  of  the  State.  The  igno- 
rance of  Leo,  the  vacillating  tyranny  of  Basiliscus,  and  the 
officious  interference  of  Zeno,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
wily  Acacius,  threw  everything  into  confusion ;  there  was 
scarcely  a  see  in  the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  whose 
bishop  was  not  exiled  or  deposed  by  one  or  other  of 
those  three  rulers ;  and  persecution  for  difference  of  faitli 
began  to  be  formally  introduced  into  Christianity. 

Leo  was  orthodox,  but  ignorant ;  Zeno  cared  nothing  for 
religion,  and  plundered  his  subjects,  whilst  the  barbarians 
ravaged  his  provinces  with  impunity.  He  having  fled  to- 
avoid  the  rage  of  the  people,  Basiliscus,  brother-in-law  to> 
Leo,  usurped  the  throne.  He  wished  to  make  a  party, 
and  finding  many  Eutychians  to  whom  he  was  attached, 
he  condemned  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  and  banished  and 
deposed  several  bishops  who  refused  to  sign  his  act  of 
condemnation.  After  two  years,  upon  the  return  of  Zeno, 
he  was  sent  by  him  into  Oappadocia,  where  he  and  his 
wife  and  children  were  put  into  a  castle,  the  apertures  of 
which  were  ^uilt  up,  and  the  unhappy  inmates  left  there 
to  starve.  Zeno  undid  all  that  Basiliscus  had  done,  and 
deposed  those  whom  he  had  favored.  But  the  Catholics  and 
Eutychians  had  now  come  to  violent  opposition.  To  try  and 
reconcile  both  parties,  Acacius  4  recommended  to  the  emperor 
to  publish  an  edict,  in  which  the  exposition  of  the  Catholic 
faith  concerning  the  incarnation  was  accurately  given;  but  to 
gratify  the  Eutychians,  no  mention  was  made  of  the  Council 


384        HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

of  Chalcedon,  or  of  its  decrees.  This  edict  was  called 
Henotikon,  or  edict  of  union.  The  Eutychians  refused 
to  embrace  its  doctrines — the  Catholics  refused  to  treat  a 
general  council  with  disrespect.  Acacius  advised  Zeno  to 
punish  both.  The  emperor  followed  his  advise,  and  banished 
most  of  the  bishops  of  the  empire,  persecuting  both  sides 
most  unsparingly.  This  is  the  first  instance  we  find  on 
record  of  monarchs  regulating  the  doctrines  of  religion. 

Pope  St.  Leo  died  in  461,  and  was  succeeded  by  St. 
Hilary,  who  died  in  470.  His  successor  was  St.  Simplicius, 
who  died  in  483,  and  was  succeeded  by  Felix  III.  This 
Pope  sent  three  legates,  Vitalis  and  Misenus,  bishops,  and 
Felix,  to  Constantinople,  to  remonstrate  against  this  perse- 
cution, to  have  the  edict  cancelled,  and  to  prevail  upon 
the  emperor  to  withdraw  his  support  from  Peter  Moggus, 
the  unprincipled  Patriarch  of  Alexandria.  Acacius  had  so 
completely  gained  upon  the  emperor  that  he  had  the  legates, 
thrown  into  prison,  and  then  succeeded  in  bringing  the  two 
bishops  to  enter  into  communion  with  Peter  Moggus.  The 
Pope  assembled  a  council  in  Home,  deposed  his  legates 
and  excommunicated  Acacius,  who  in  return  excommunicated 
the  Pope.  This  began  the  second  schism  of  Constantinople. 

Acacius  died  in  488,  and  was  succeeded  by  Flavita,  who 
not  only  was  a  schismatic  but  a  heretic.  The  wretched 
people  were  now  divided  into  three  parties,  the  Catho- 
lics, the  Eutychians,  and  a  middle  party  called  the  Doubt- 
ful— all  irreconcilable.  Flavita  was  soon  succeeded  by 
Euphemius,  who  held  the  Catholic  faith,  and  received  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  but  he  found  the  district  in  a  mis- 
erable situation.  Acacius  had,  in  revenge  for  the  excom- 
munication of  Felix,  deposed  most  of  the  orthodox  bishops, 
and  Flavita  was  anxious  to  fill  their  places  with  Eutychians, 
so  that  the  faith  was  lost  in  many  of  the  Churches. 
Euphemius  wrote  to  Pope  G^Jasius,  the  successor  of  Felix, 
who  died  in  492,  that  he  condemned  Dioscorus  and  received 
the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  praying  to  be  received  into  com- 
munion. Gelasius  required  the  name  of  Acacius  to  be 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         385 

taken  off  the  dyptics  of  Constantinople,  and  that  of  Felix  to 
be  inserted.  Euphemius  refused  to  comply  with  the  first  part, 
but  willingly  offered  to  comply  with  the  second  part  of 
the  requisition.  Gelasius,  therefore,  refused  him  communion, 
and  the  schism  continued.  Meantime  Zeno  was  succeeded  in 
the  empire  by  Anastatius  I,  who  at  first  punished  all  the 
parties,  but  subsequently  attaching  himself  to  the  Eutychians, 
he  deposed  and  banished  Euphemius,  and  had  Macedonius 
substituted  for  him  by  some  bishops,  whom  he  procured 
for  the  purpose.  The  schism  continued  under  Macedonius, 
though  his  faith  was  orthodox.  Anastatius  soon  found 
means,  as  he  had  inclination,  and  deposed  and  banished 
Macedonius,  as  also  Flavian  of  Antioch,  and  Elias  of  Jeru- 
salem, for  holding  to  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  St.  Sabas 
the  Abbot  and  other  holy  men  remonstrated  with  the  em- 
peror, who  desisted  a  little  from  his  persecution,  and  a 
profession  of  faith  and  petition  for  communion  was-  sent  to 
Pope  Symmachus  by  most  of  the  Churches,  stating  that  they 
thought  it  bard  to  be  punished  for  the  fault  of  Acacius. . 
The  Pope  answered  that  the  profession  was  orthodox,  but 
that  they  should  acknowledge  also  the  propriety  of  the 
condemnation  of  him  whose  crime  they  acknowledged. 

Meantime  Vitalian,  a  Scythian,  raising  a  vast  body  of 
troops,  under  pretence  of  defending  the  Catholic  faith,  over- 
ran Scythia  and  Mysia,  penetrated  through  Thrace,  and  laid 
siege  to  Constantinople.  The  emperor  promised  to  reunite 
himself  to  Rome,  and  the  troops  withdrew.  He  applied  to 
Pope  Hormisdas,  who  required  the  same  conditions  as  his 
predecessors  had.  The  emperor  refused,  but  many  of  the 
bishops  and  monasteries  acceded  and  were  reconciled.  St. 
Sabas  and  a  number  of  other  holy  men  again  applied  to 
the  emperor,  and  he  appeared  to  relent,  but  still  delayed. 
He  died  in  the  year  518,  in  the  88th  year  of  his  age, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Justinus  I;  and  in  the  year  519, 
through  the  latter's  intervention,  the  names  of  Acacius  and 
Flavita,  Euphemius  and  Macedonius  were  taken  off  the 
dyptics,  the  faith  of  Chalcedon  restored,  and  an  end  put  to 
the  schism.  as 


386         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

IV. 

After  the  reconciliation  with  Rome  in  519,  there  was  a 
considerable  calm  in  the  Church  of  Constantinople.  The 
Emperor  Justin  I  dying  in  527,  was  succeeded  by  Justinian 
I,  his  nephew,  whose  wife  Theodora  was  a  Eutychian. 
This  emperor  had  a  religious  turn  and  a  great  propensity 
for  legislation,  the  union  of  both  which  qualities  in  a 
person  possessed  of  his  authority  made  him  a  torment  to 
the  Church.  He  was  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign  a 
Roman  Catholic,  and  not  only  religious  but  austere  and 
mortified.  He  devoted  very  little  time  to  his  meals  and 
to  sleep.  He  frequently  fasted  two  days  upon  one  poor 
meal  of  wild  herbs  and  other  vegetables.  He  soon  began 
the  career  of  theologian  and  ecclesiastical  legislator.  He  is 
the  first  prince  that  we  find  usurping  this  power;  but  his 
earliest  'edicts,  though  regarding  ecclesiastical  persons,  had 
more  the  appearance  of  civil  than  of  ecclesiastical  legislation; 
on  which  account  the  usurpation  did  not  wear  so  obnoxious 
an  aspect  as  to  require  strenuous  opposition,  especially  in 
the  unsettled  state  of  that  portion  of  the  Church.  Besides, 
the  object  of  the  edicts  was  evidently  good  and  necessary, 
and  the  execution  of  the  law  was  committed  to  the  patriarch, 
and  through  him  to  the  metropolitans.  He  also  published 
a  profession  of  faith,  which  contained  the  doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  on  this  account  was  pretty  generally 
subscribed.  He  manifested  great  zeal  for  the  conversion  of 
heretics  and  infidels,  and  brought  many  to  the  external 
profession  of  the  faith,  though  most  persons  agree  that  he 
made  more  hypocrites  than  converts;  'and  indeed  the  means 
which  he  used,  viz.:  rewards  and  punishments,  were  better 
calculated  to  produce  hypocrisy  than  conviction.  Some  per- 
sons go  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  had  an  interest  in  tlmsc 
persecutions,  for  that  he  put  into  his  private  coffers  the 
proceeds  of  the  confiscations  to  which  he  subjected  the 
obstinate. 

The  Eutychians  having  caused  great  trouble  at  Alexandria 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         387 

in  Egypt,  and  even  made  a  schism  amongst  the  Catholics, 
the  emperor  had  a  conference  between  six  Catholic  and 
six  schismatical  bishops  in  his  palace,  the  result  of  which 
was  the  reconciliation  of  one  of  the  schismatical  prelates 
and  some  of  the  clergy  and  the  exasperation  of  the  others. 
Justinian  drew  up  a  formulary  of  faith  anew,  and  sent  it 
to  the  Pope,  John  I,  a  successor  of  Hormisdas,  requesting 
him,  as  "  the  head  of  all  the  bishops,"  to  confirm  it. 
This  form  contained  a  clear  exposition  of  the  true  faith, 
and  was  approved  of  by  the  Pope  in  529,  and  subscribed 
by  most  of  the  Oriental  bishops. 

Justinian  was  desirous  of  reducing  the  laws  of  the  empire 
into  a  better  form  than  they  were  in,  and  for  that  purpose 
employed  some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  and  chief  officers 
of  his  time. 

In  529,  he  published  "the  Code,"  so  called  as  being 
the  book  which  contained  the  select  constitutions  of  the 
preceding  emperors  and  his  own,  which  he  wished  to  pre- 
serve in  force ;  and  in  534,  a  more  correct  and  improved 
selection  was  set  forth.  In  533  the  best  decisions  of  the 
lawyers  upon  cases  under  those  constitutions  were  published 
under  the  title  of  Digests,  or  Pandects,  and  this  was 
immediately  followed  by  four  books  of  Institutes,  or  intro- 
duction to  the  study  and  application  of  this  law  and  those 
decisions.  There  was  an  appendix  called  Novelise,  which 
principally  consisted  of  ecclesiastical  laws  compiled  in  like 
manner,  and  of  several  laws  of  his  own  modern  enactment. 
The  entire  of  this  forms  what  is  called  the  Civil  or 
Justinian  Code.  Many  of  the  ecclesiastical  regulations  were 
never  received  by  the  Church,  and  several  that  were  received 
have  been  subsequently  annulled  by  contrary  usage,  by 
disuse,  or  by  repeal,  or  by  the  enactments  of  canons  which 
are  inconsistent  with  the  entries  of  the  Novelise.  Such  as 
were  of  force  at  any  time  received  their  authority  not  from 
the  enactment  of  Justinian,  but  from  the  acceptation  of  the 
Church.  One  of  the  principal  topics  in  this  appendix 
regarded  the  appointment  of  bishops.  Some  of  the  Eastern 


HISTORICAL   SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

Churches   received   the    discipline    there    laid   down,   but   very 
few    iu   the   West    acted    on    it. 

The  discipline  in  the  Western  Churches  was?  principally 
founded  upon  the  canons  of  the  Apostles,  the  canons  of 
the  Councils  of  Nice,  Constantinople,  Ephesus,  aixl  Chal- 
ccdon,  which  were  general,  and  of  the  provincial  councils 
of  Ancyra,  the  capital  of  Galatia,  in  Asia  Minor,  held  in 
314;  Gangres,  the  capital  of  Paphlagonia,  held  in  470; 
Neocesarea,  in  Cappadocia,  now  called  Tocat,  held  about 
the  year  315 ;  three  Councils  of  Antioch,  in  Syria,  in  265, 
359,  and  452 ;  Laodicea,  in  Phrygia,  in  the  time  of  Pope 
Damasus,  and  some  others,  found  in  the  collection  of 
Dionysius  the  Little,  a  Scythian  monk,  who  became  a  priest 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  of  eminent  piety  and  literary 
ability,  and  who,  in  520,  published  the  first  collection  of 
canon  law,  to  which,  a  few  years  afterwards,  he  added  the 
Decretals  of  the  Popes  Siricius,  Innocent  I,  Zozimus,  Boni- 
face I,  Celestin  I,  Leo  the  Great,  Gelasius  I,  and  Anasta- 
sius  II.  This  same  Dionysius  was  an  excellent  arithmetician 
and  astronomer ;  he  renewed  the  computation  of  the  cycle, 
that  of  Cyril  having  nearly  expired ;  and  substituted  the 
computation  by  the  Christian  era  for  that  of  consulate  and 
other  modes  of  keeping  account.  Many  persons  are  of 
opinion,  however,  that  he  fell  into  a  mistake,  which  has 
never  been  corrected,  of  four  years  in  the  assignment  of 
the  exact  period  of  the  Incarnatioi 

Another  remark  is  also  necessary  upon  the  Novelise,  and 
indeed  upon  the  whole  Justinian  code.  I  have  before 
noticed  the  conduct  of  Justinian  in  compelling  persons  to 
profess  a  faith  to  which  they  were  riot  attache^.  This  had 
produced  many  bad  results,  amongst  which  that  now  adverted 
to  was  not  trivial.  Tribonian,  a  heathen,  who  pretended 
to  be  a  Christian,  was  questor,  which  office  is  nearly  the 
same  as  a  judge  in  equity.  This  man,  who  was  one  of 
the  best  lawyers  of  the  age,  was  by  no  means  as  upright 
as  he  was  learned.  Procopins  and  Suidas  accuse  him  of 
having  been  excessively  corrupt  and  venal.  He  was  one 


HISTORICAL  SKETCIIES-^EUROPEAN  TURKEY.        389 

of  the  chief  compilers  of  the  Pandects  and  editors  of  the 
Novelise,  and  frequently  exhibited  in  them  how  little  ho 
was  influenced  by  the  principles  of  that  religion  which  his 
interest  obliged  him  to  profess  against  his  conviction. 

I  have  stated  before  that  the  Empress  Theodora  was  a 
Eutychian.  But  like  all  heresies,  the  Eutychian  was  now 
divided  into  several  minor  sects,  a  considerable  one  of 
which  was  called  that  of  the  Acephalists ;  they  were  obsti- 
nate opponents  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  To  this  sect 
the  empress  specially  attached  herself.  Upon  the  death  of 
Epiphanius  the  patriarch,  in  535,  she  contrived  to  have 
Anthimus,  who  was  a  member  of  this  sect,  raised  to  the 
See  of  Constantinople  from  the  See  of  Trebisond,  which  he 
had  previously  filled. 

.  St.  Agepctus,  who  had  succeeded  John  II  in  the  See  of 
Rome,  was  consecrated  on  the  4th  of  May,  535,  and  at 
the  request  of  Theodotus,  King  of  the  Goths  in  Italy, 
went  to  Constantinople  for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring  to 
dissuade  Justinian  from  sending  an  expedition  to  recover 
Italy.  In  this  he  failed;  .but  the  Catholics  of  the  imperial 
city  accused  their  patriarch  of  heresy.  Agapetus  refused  to 
receive  Anthimus  into  communion,  unless  he  subscribed  the 
decrees  of  Chalcedon,  and  complained  of  the  irregularity  of 
his  translation  from  Trebisond.  The  emperor  and  empress 
used  their  influence  in  vain  with  the  Pope  to  allow  the 
translation  to  stand  valid.  Anthimus  returned  to  his  former 
see,  and  the  Pope  consecrated  Mennas  patriarch  of  the 
imperial  city,  and  excommunicated  Anthimus,  unless  he 
would  subscribe  the  decrees  of  Chalcedon.  This  created  for 
the  Pope  the  enmity  of  the  empress  and  all  her  adherents. 
Agapetus  died  at  Constantinople  on  April  18,  A.  D.,  530, 
and  his  body  was  brought  to  Rome  for  interment. 

Upon  the  death  of  St.  Agapetus,  Silverius,  son  of  Pope 
Hormisdas,  who  had  been  married  previous  to  his  ordination, 
was  consecrated  on  the  8th  of  June,  536.  Belisarius,  the 
general  of  Justinian,  having  made  himself  master  of  Sicily 
in  535,  took  Naples  in  53G ;  and  marching  toward  Rome, 


390         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES -EUROPE AN  TURKEY. 

that  city  was,  at  the  request  of  Pope  Silverius,  delivered 
up  to  him.  The  empress  looked  upon  this  as  a  good 
opportunity  of  promoting  her  views ;  wrote  to  the  Pope, 
requiring  him  either  to  acknowledge  Anthimus  Bishop  of 
Constantinople,  or  to  proceed  to  that  city  and  examine  his 
cause.  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  letter  Silverius  remarked 
that  the  packet  would  cost  him  his  life.  He  wrote  back 
that  he  could  not  betray  the  cause  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

At  this  time  Vigilius,  one  of  the  archdeacons  of  the 
Roman  Church,  who  had  .accompanied  the  late  Pope,  was 
still  at  Constantinople.  The  empress  promised  to  have  him 
made  Pope,  as  Rome  was  now  in  her  power,  and  to  bestow 
upon  him  a  large  sum  of  money,  provided  he  would  con- 
demn the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  and  restore  to  communion 
Anthimus,  who  was  to  be  reinstated  in  Constantinople,  and 
Severus  and  Theodosius,  the  Eutychian  patriarchs  of  Antioch 
and  Alexandria.  The  conditions  were  acceded  to,  and 
Vigilius  set  off  for  Home,  with  a  letter  to  Belisarius,  com- 
manding him  to  banish  Silverius  and  have  Vigilius  placed 
in  his  stead.  Constantinople  had  long  felt  the  evils  of  a 
connection  with  the  State ;  and  the  melancholy  review  which 
I  have  already  made  shows  but  too  evidently  the  terrible 
effects  of  this  unnatural  and  demoralizing  association.  This 
was  the  first  attempt  upon  the  See  of  Rome  by  the  same 
agents. 

Belisarius  showed  great  reluctance  to  execute  this  com- 
mission ;  but  his  wife,  Antonina,  who  was  a  confidant  and 
favorite  of  the  empress,  had  an  undue  ascendancy  over  him 
and  prevailed.  "The  empress  commands  me,"  said  the  gen- 
eral, "  I  must  obey.  He  who  seeks  the  ruin  of  Silverius, 
and  not  I,  shall  answer  for  it  at  the  last  day."  The  Pope 
was  accused,  to  afford  a  pretext  for  executing  the  order,  of 
having  held  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  Vitiges,  the 
Goth,  who  was  raised  to  the  throne  in  place  of  Theodotus, 
who  was  deposed.  To  prove  this,  a  letter  was  produced 
as.  from  the  Pope,  inviting  Vitiges  to  attack  the  city  and 
he  would  open  its  gates.  It  was  proved  that  this 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         391 

was  forged  by  Marcus,  a  lawyer,  and  Julianus,  a  military 
man,  who  had  been  suborned  by  the  empress'  friends. 
Belisarius  entreated  the  Pope  to  comply  with  the  request 
of  his  mistress,  and  not  place  him  under  the  necessity  of 
doing  what  he  said  was  his'  duty.  The  Pope  declared  that 
he  could  not  abandon  his  own  duty,  and  that  the  power 
of  rulers  could  not  justify  him  before  God.  He  then  took 
refuge  in  the  Church  of  St.  Sabina.  The  general  contrived 
to  get  him  out  of  the  church,  and  had  him  privately 
removed;  and  Vigilius  was  consecrated  on  the  22d  of 
November,  537,  it  being  published  that  Silverius  had  vol- 
untarily resigned.  The  good  Pope  was  removed  to  Palmaria, 
in  Lycia,  the  bishop  of  which  place  treated  him  with  the 
kindness  due  to  the  Father  of  the  faithful,  and  obtained 
from  the  emperor  an  order  for  his  restoration,  unless  he 
could  be  proved  guilty  of  high  treason.  The  executioners 
of  the  empress'  orders  contrived  his  detention  in  the  little 
Island  of  Palmaria,  where  he  died,  some  say  of  ill  treat- 
ment, others  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  on  the  20th  of 
June,  538. 

Vigilius  repented  of  his  crimes,  and  though  theretofore 
an  intruder,  was  now  confirmed  in  his  place,  and  became 
the  successor  not  only  to  the  dignity,  but  to  the  firm 
orthodoxy  of  Silverius,  so  that  the  designs  of  Theodora 
were  frustrated. 

Still,  however,  Justinian  could  not  refrain  from  interfering 
in  the  concerns  of  the  Church ;  and  the  opponents  of 
Catholicity,  amongst  whom  his  wife  was  the  most  restless 
and  not  the  least  artful,  took  advantage  of  this  propensity. 
Justinian  had  a  council  held  under  Hennas,  in  which  laws 
were  passed  anew  against  the  Nestorians  and  several  sects 
of  Eutychians ;  and  the  emperor  persecuted  all  who  would 
not  receive  those  laws.  Changing  their  appellation,  some 
of  those  proscribed  sectaries  now  took  up  the  doctrines  of 
Origen ;  and  an  application  was  made  to  the  emperor,  who 
actually  neglected  the  government  of  the  empire  to  get 
entangled  in  theological  broils,  to  have  them  condemned. 


392         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

He  drew  up  a  new  edict,  in  which  he  divided  the  errors 
of  Origen  into  classes,  ranged  them  under  six  heads,  and 
condemned  them.  He  sent  a  copy  of  this  to  Mennas, 
requiring  him  to  have  the  bishops  of  his  patriarchate  and 
their  abbots  to  subscribe  thereto,  and  informing  him  that 
he  had  sent  copies  to  Pope  Vigilius  and  to  the  other 
patriarchs  for  the  same  purpose.  The  edict  contained  no 
error,  and  was  received  and  subscribed.  Whilst  his  majesty 
was  thus  employed,  Chosroes,  King  of  Persia,  was  ravaging 
his  eastern  territories  with  impunity.  Nor  could  the  daily 
accounts  of  successive  disasters  withdraw  him  from  ecclesi- 
astical legislation. 

Amongst  the  insincere  subscribers  to  the  edict  which 
condemned  the  errors  of  Origen,  one  of  the  principal  was 
Theodore  Ascidas,  visitor  or  exarch  of  the  New  Laura, 
founded  by  St.  Sabas  the  abbot,  in  507.  This  man  after- 
wards contrived  to  obtain  the  Bishopric  of  Csesarea  in  Cap- 
padocia,  and  became  the  rallying  point  of  the  Origenist 
Eutychians.  He  was  a  man  of  consummate  artifice  am} 
unexcelled  hypocrisy.  Being  011  good  terms  with  Justinian 
and  favored  by  Theodora,  he  devised  a  mode  of,  as  he 
thought,  covertly  destroying  the  authority  of  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon.  He  told  the  emperor  that  if,  instead  of  pub- 
lishing edicts  of  condemnation  against  the  Acephalists  and 
other  Eutychians,  he  would  only  have  the  Nestorians  who 
were  condemned  at  Ephesus  fully  put  down,  all  the  Euty- 
chians would  join  the  Church.  He  stated  their  objection 
to  receiving  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  to  be,  that  in  this 
council  Nestorianism  was  tolerated,  and  that  upon  this 
sole  ground  they  rejected  the  council ;  that  this  Nestorian 
doctrine  was  held  by  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  who  was 
treated  by  the  council  as  orthodox,  though  it  was  from 
him  Nestorius  learned  the  errors;  that  it  received  as  ortho- 
dox the  letter  of  Ibas  of  Edessa  to  Maris  the  Persian, 
which  was  full  of  Ncstorianism ;  and  that  if  those  errors 
and  their  abettors  were  condemned  by  an  edict,  as  well  as 
the  errors  of  Tlicodoret  of  Cyrus,  in  opposition  to  St. 
Cyril,  the  Acephalists  would  subscribe  willingly  to  the  edict. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.  393 

Justinian  wanted  but  an  opportunity  to  commence  new 
work;  and  now  that  it  was  afforded,  lie  began.  The  party 
knew  that  if  the  edict  were  once  published,  Justinian, 
whose  pride  was  excessive,  would  never  retract  it.  They 
calculated  thus  to  bring  discredit  upon  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  and,  by  the  power  of  the  emperor,  force  the 
Catholics  to  subscribe  contradictions  or  submit  to  persecu- 
tion ;  but  they  were  disappointed.  Justinian  published  his 
edict  condemning  the  three  chapters — such  was  the  appella- 
tion of  those  writings  in  545 — but  it  contained  only  the 
assertion  of  true  doctrine. 

V. 

The  edict  of  Justinian  on  the  affair  of  the  three  chapters 
caused  great  disunion  in  the  Church.  The  Eutychians 
boasted  that  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  was  partially  con- 
demned thereby,  many  of  the  Catholics  were  of  the  same 
opinion,  and  several  others  could  see  in  the  edict  only  the 
declaration  of  the  Catholic  faith,  without  any  reproach  flung 
upon  the  Fathers  of  Chalcedon. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  me  to  examine  the  grounds  of 
their  opinions.  I  only  mention  facts  historically.  A  schism 
between  the  Catholics  was  the  consequence.  Pope  Vigilius, 
who  was  at  Constantinople,  issued  a  condemnation  of  those 
documents  styled  a  judicatum,  saving,  however,  all  respect 
for  the  authority  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  Vigilius 
also  placed  the  Empress  Theodora  under  excommunication, 
and  broke  off  special  communication  Avith  Mennas. 

The  judicatum,  so  far  from  healing  the  schism,  increased 
it.  Vigilius  then  proposed  to  assemble  a  council  for  the 
examination  of  the  chapter;  and,  pressed  on  all  sides, 
superceded  the  judicatum  by  another  decree  called  the  con- 
stitutum,  in  which  under  a  different  formula,  the  same 
errors  were  condemned,  and  a  prohibition  was  issued  to 
derogate  from  the  authority  of  the  Fathers,  who  had  preceded 
those  times.  The  emperor  and  his  officers  ill-treated  the 


394        UISTOKICAL   SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

Pope  in  such  a  manner,  as  frequently  to  endanger  his  life ; 
he  was  imprisoned  to  force  him  to  acts  against  his  con- 
science, and  kept  in  a  state  of  durance,  which  left  his  acts 
void  to  that  authority  to  which  those  of  a  free  agent  only 
are  entitled. 

Meantime,  in  the  year  553,  there  was  an  assembly  of 
bishops  held,  at  which  very  few  of  the  westerns  attended. 
The  council  was  opened  in  the  private  apartments  of  the 
cathedral  of  Constantinople;  and  after  the  bishops  had  pro- 
ceeded for  some  time  in  their  deliberations,  the  Pope  had 
the  constitutem  sent  to  them,  and  protested  against  the 
irregularity  of  the  proceedings.  However,  the  sessions  con- 
tinued, and  the  errors  of  the  three  chapters  were  condemned; 
and  in  the  last  session  the  prelates  recognized,  received, 
and  confirmed  the  acts  of  the  Councils  of  Nice,  Constanti- 
nople, and  Chalcedon,  and  declared  their  faith  to  be  the 
same  as  that  which  was  defined  in  those  four  councils,  and 
excommunicated  those  who  would  not  receive  all  their 
decisions.  Eutychius,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  Apol- 
linaris,  of  Alexandria,  and  the  bishops,  signed  the  acts  of 
the  council. 

The  emperor  still  detained  Vigilius  in  the  imperial  city ; 
but  having  succeeded  in  forcing  him  to  confirm  the  acts  of 
this  council  in  about  six  months,  he  gave  him  leave  to 
return  into  Italy.  Still  the  troubles  caused  by  the  tyrannical 
interference  of  Justinian  were  not  appeased.  And  although 
in  the  several  documents  which  came  from  Vigilius,  and 
the  acts  of  the  synod,  there  was  nothing  but  the  true  doc- 
trine of  the  Church,  the  irregularity  of  the  proceedings 
threw  the  whole  transaction  into  discredit,  and  the  miscon- 
structions of  the  sectaries  rendered  doubtful  the  exact 
doctrines  which  were  held.  The  council  was  therefore  by 
no  means  generally  received.  Vigilius  died  in  Sicily,  on 
his  return  to  Home. 

Justinian  either  built  or  repaired  in  Constantinople,  at  his 
own  cost,  thirty-one  churches,  amongst  which  was  the  great 
church  of  St.  Sophia,  which  is  at  this  day  a  splendid 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         395 

mosque.  He  also,  in  other  parts  of  the  empire,  built 
thirty  churches,  ten  hospitals,  and  twenty-three  monasteries ; 
but  he  made  an  inglorious  peace  with  Chosroes,  King  of 
Persia,  preferring  to  embroil  himself  and  his  empire  in  the 
theological  disquisitions  to  discharging  his  duty  by  protect- 
ing his  people  from  the  ravages  of  enemies,  and  securing 
peace  and  justice  for  them  in  their  temporal  concerns, 
which  had  been  specially  entrusted  to  his  care.  This 
Emperor,  in  his  latter  years,  fell  into  the  heresy  of  the 
Incorruptibles,  and  after  having  been  a  persecutor  for  doc- 
trine, a  torment  to  the  Church,  a  defender  of  faith,  and  a 
violator  of  discipline,  he  died  out  of  the  pale  of  that 
Church,  in  the  year  556,  having  latterly  begun  to  persecute 
those  who  held  the  Catholic  faith,  for  not  having  followed 
him  in  his  errors ;  amongst  whom  was  Eutychius,  the 
patriarch  of  the  imperial  city. 

His  successor  was  Justin  II,  who  held  the  Catholic  foith, 
and  recalled  all  the  Catholic  prelates  who  had  been  banished 
by  his  uncle,  with  the  exception  of  Eutychius.  But  though 
his  doctrine  was  orthodox,  his  morality  was  corrupt.  He 
died  in  578,  and  was  succeeded  by  Tiberius  Constantine, 
who  recalled  the  patriarch  from  Pontus,  where  he  had 
spent  twelve  years  in  exile.  St.  Gregory  the  Great>  who 
was  afterwards  Pope,  was  at  this  time  nuncio  from  Pope 
Pelagius  II,  in  the  imperial  city,  and  was  on  the  most  inti- 
mate terms  with  the  emperor  and  his  successor.  By  the 
exertions  of  the  prelates,  who  were  now  free  to  use  their 
best  efforts,  heresy  and  schism  disappeared  in  several  parts. 
The  patriarch  taught  that  by  the  resurrection  the  bodies 
would  be  impalpable;  but  upon  a  conversation  with  the 
nuncio,  he  was  convinced  of  his  error  and  openly  cor- 
rected it. 

After  a  reign  of  four  years,  Tiberius  died,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Maurice,  in  582.  Gregory  was  soon  afterwards 
recalled  to  Rome,  and  in  590  succeeded  Pelagius  in  the 
pontificate.  At  the  close  of  this  century,  John  the  Faster, 
a  man  of  extraordinary  austerity  of  life,  but  also  of  stern 


39G         HISTORICAL    SKETCHES- EUROPE  AN  TURKEY. 

manners,  was  in  the  See  of  Constantinople.  He  went  in 
his  progress  a  step  farther  than  any  of  his  predecessors, 
and  took  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop.  Gregory  wrote  to 
reprove  him  for  the  presumption,  requiring  him  to  desist 
from  using  so  equivocal  a  phrase,  which  had  never  been 
used  by  any  bishop.  Gregory,  who  knew  well  the  history 
of  the  Constantinopolitan  aggressions,  and  the  ambition  of 
the  emperors  to  elevate  the  authority  of  that  see,  as  well 
as  the  flattery  of  the  provincial  prelates,  justly  thought  it 
would  be  giving  his  sanction  to  a  principle  of  usurpation, 
to  permit  this  to  pass  unnoticed.  John  answered  that  he 
did  not  assume  the  title  as  claiming  jurisdiction  over  all 
the  Churches,  but  over  a  great  many.  Gregory,  however, 
insisted  upon  the  title  being  altogether  disused,  which 
John  for  a  time  complied  with. 

The  Emperor  Maurice  was  extremely  avaricious.  This 
•  unfortunate  passion  caused  him  to  refuse  the  payment  of 
a  small  ransom  demanded  by  the  Khan  of  the  Avari,  for 
the  release  of  ten  thousand  prisoners  whom  he  had  taken. 
This  barbarian  put  them  to  death,  and  Maurice,  looking 
upon  himself  as  their  murderer,  was  overwhelmed  with 
grief.  However,  untaught  by  this,  he  ordered  his  troops 
into  winter  quarters  beyond  the  Danube,  that  he  might 
support  them  at  less  expense  in  an  enemy's  country.  After 
the  massacre  of  the»  prisoners,  the  emperor  frequently  prayed 
that  God  might  rather  punish  him  in  this  life  than  in  the 
next.  His  prayer  appears  to  have  been  heard  and  granted. 

The  troops  beyond  the  Danube,  displeased  at  their  hard 
treatment,  revolted,  and  chose  Phocas,  exarch  of  the  centu- 
rions, as  their  leader,  crossed  the  Danube,  and  came 
to  Constantinople,  where  they  proclaimed  Phocas  emperor. 
Maurice  fled  from  the  city.  Many  persons  stating  that 
Phocas  could  riot  reign  whilst  Maurice  lived,  a  party  was 
sent  after  the  unfortunate  fugitive,  who  was  taken  with  his 
wife  and  eight  children,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Chalccdon 
they  were  deliberately  murdered  before  his  face,  the  unhappy 
father  exclaiming  frequently  that  verse  of  the  118th  Psalm, 


ULST01HCAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         397 

"Thou  art  just,  O  Lord,  and  Thy  judgments  are  equitable." 
The  unhappy  monarch  himself  was  slain  last ;  and  Phocas 
thus  was  elevated  upon  a  blood-stained  throne.  He  was 
crowned  by  Cyriacus,  the  patriarch,  who  still  assumed  the 
title  of  Universal  Bishop. 

St.  Gregory  the  Great  died  in  604,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Sabinianus,  whose  successor  was  Boniface  III,  who, 
during  his  short  pontificate,  procured  an  order  from  Phocas 
to  the  imperial  city,  forbidding  them  to  use  the  obnoxious 
title  which  John  the  Faster  had  attempted  to  establish  and 
Cyriacus  had  assumed.  .  . 

Phocas  was  deposed  and  put  to  death  by  Heraclius  in 
610,  during  the  occupation  of  the  See  of  Constantinople  by 
Scgius.  In  the  year  625,  Chosroes,  King  of  Persia,  who 
still  ravaged  Judea  and  the  eastern  provinces,  required  as 
a  condition  for  peace,  which  Heraclius  sought,  the  apostacy 
of  the  empire  from  Christianity  and  the  adoption  of  the 
religion  of  the  Persians.  Heraclius  rejected  the  proposal 
and  prepared  for  vigorous  operations ;  and  it  is  fit  here 
to  remark,  that  it  was  upon  this  occasion  the  Turks,  who 
were  a  savage  tribe  in  the  northwest  of  Asia,  were  brought 
down  by  Heraclius  into  Thrace ;  and  about  this  period 
also  Mahomet  began  his  progress  in  Arabia. 

YI. 

I  have  made  considerable  progress  in  exhibiting  the  rev- 
olutions of  religion  in  'this  unfortunate  country;  but  the 
events  thicken  as  I  proceed ;  and  as  my  object  at  present 
is  not  to  give  a  detailed  history  of  religion,  but  a  sufficient 
sketch  to  enable  my  readers  generally  to  know  the  manner 
in  which  each  portion  of  the  Church  came  to  its  present 
situation,  I  shall  not  find  it  necessary  to  dwell  so  much 
in  detail  upon  the  subsequent  history  of  Turkey  or  Greece. 
In  my  account  of  Russia,  I  showed  how  the  faith  was 
introduced  to  the  "southern  part  of  that  nation ;  and  as  the 
northern  part  of  what  is  at  present  Turkey  in  Europe  and 


398          HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

the  southern  part  of  Russia  were  then  occupied  by  the 
same  hordes,  the  history  of  one  is  the  history  of  the 
other.  I  shall  still,  therefore,  confine  myself  to  the  history 
of  Thrace  and  Greece. 

Heraclius,  having  determined  upon  carrying  on  the  war 
vigorously  against  Chosroes,  King  of  Persia,  was  not  much 
occupied  with  theology  at  first.  However,  the  various  sec- 
taries which  now  arose  produced  perpetual  contention  and 
theological  disputes,  and  the  speculative  Greeks  were  ever 
and  ever  making  new  distinctions  and  inventing  new  subtle- 
ties. The  original  errors  having  been  with  respect  to 
the  nature  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  every  particle,  if  I 
may  use  an  expression  of  that  nature,  was  subjected  to 
their  examination.  A  new  contest  no~v  arose. 

Sergius,  Archbishop  of  Constantinople,  was  a  disguised 
Eutychian,  and  anxious  covertly  to  introduce  his  doctrines, 
he  began  with  Heraclius.  His  imperial  pupil,  charmed 'with 
the  care  of  his  new  preceptor  and  gratified  at  the  compli- 
ments paid  to  his  progress  in  the  theological  erudition, 
adopted  the  dictates  of  the  archbishop  as  the  results  of 
his  own  convictions.  Nor  was  Heraclius  the  only  pupil  of 
the  plotting  prelate.  Many  others  were  infected  with  the 
new  opinions,  which  as  yet  had  not  been  brought  to  full 
light. 

Eutychianism  consisted  in  the  doctrine  of  the  singleness 
of  the  Redeemer's  nature.  This  doctrine  had  been  con- 
demned. Of  course,  to  teach  it  openly  would  insure  con- 
demnation. But  if  there  was  only  a  single  will,  there 
was  of  course  in  the  Redeemer  only  a  single  rational  nature. 
Could  the  doctrine  of  this  single  will  be  covertly  estab- 
lished, the  singleness  of  nature  would  be  thus  taught.  This 
first  doctrine  had  not  yet  been  examined  nor  formerly  pro- 
scribed, and  Sergius  inculcated  that  in  Christ  there  was 
but  ono  will,  and  thus  he  prepared  the  way  for  the  intro- 
duction of  Eutychianism. 

Athanasius,  Patriarch  of  the  Jacobites,  who  were  a  great 
body  of  Eutychians,  having  been  informed  by  Sergius  of 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.         399 

the  dispositions  of  Heraclius,  went  to  meet  his  majesty  at 
Hierapolis,  and  informed  him  that  he  and  his  people  were 
anxious  for  a  reunion  with  the  Church,  'and  that  he  would 
make  such  a  profession  of  faith  as  would  satisfy  the  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople,  and  offered  to  content  himself  with 
expression  that  in  Christ  there  was  only  one  will.  Herac- 
lius, anxious  for  this  union,  embraced  the  proposition  joy- 
fully, and  declared  that  he  would  take  every  step  in  his 
power  to  have  Athanasius  raised  to  the  See  of  Antioch. 

Cyrus,  Bishop  of  Phasis,  was  another  of  the  conspirators 
who,  under  the  pretext  of  union,  peace  and  charity,  came 
to  offer  his  services  for  the  harmony  of  the  faithful ;  and 
it  was  contrived  that  he  obtained  the  See  of  Alexandria. 
Thus,  without  any  noise,  the  principal  sees  of  the  East 
were,  through  the  cunning  of  Sergius,  in  the  power  of 
Monothelites.  Sophronius,  a  Syrian  monk,  was  the  first 
who  exposed  the  heresy.  He  besought  the  Patriarchs  of 
Alexandria  and  Constantinople  in  vain.  They  drew  up  a 
form  to  be  subscribed  by  all  who  desired  union  with  the 
Church.  It  consisted  of  nine  articles ;  and  the  seventh 
only,  which  contained  the  doctrine  of  Monotheletism,  was 
erroneous.  The  Eutychians  ran  in  crowds  to  sign  it,  and 
the  emperor  was  gratified. 

The  next  step  was  to  guard  against  the  condemnation  of 
Rome.  For  this  purpose  Sergius  wrote  to  Pope  Honorius 
that  a  most  brilliant  prospect  was  now  before  them  of 
reuniting  to  the  Church  all  the  contending  sects  of  the 
East ;  that  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  had  been  eminently 
successful ;  that  crowds  were  every  day  flocking  in  to 
reunite  themselves ;  and  that  no  obstacle  was  raised  but 
by  the  unauthorized  interference  of  the  monk  Sophronius, 
who  was  creating  difficulties  by  discussing  a  new  question 
upon  which  the  Scriptures  contained  nothing,  and  which 
the  councils  had  never  even  entertained,  and  which,  though 
many  of  the  Fathers  had  touched  upon,  still  was  more  a 
question  for  grammarians  than  for  bishops ;  and  that,  as 
all  the  success  of  their  exertions  depended  upon  peace,  it 


400         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— EUROPEAN  TURKEY. 

was  requested  that  Honorius  would  command  silence  upon 
this  new  topic.  The  artifice  succeeded;  and  the  Pope,  thus 
deceived,  wrote  a  'letter  desiring  that  there  should  be  no 
disputes  about  words,  and  that  Sophronius  should  not 
trouble  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria.1  Sophronius  was  mean- 
time raised  to  the  See  of  Jerusalem,  and  held  a  council 
in  which  Monotheletism  was  condemned.  He  wrote  to 
Honorius,  and  in  return  the  Pope  sent  a  second  letter,  in 
which  he  repeated  his  desire  of  silence  upon  the  subject. 
Sophronius,  aware  that  there  must  have  been  some  imposi- 
tion practiced  upon  the  Holy  See,  selected  Stephen,  Bishop 
of  Doria,  upon  whom  he  placed  the  greatest  reliance,  and 
taking  him  to  Mount  Calvary,  bound  him  solemnly,  as  he 
would  account  to  that  Saviour  who  there  shed  His  blood, 
to  go  to  Rome  and  to  lay  the  facts  distinctly  before  the 
Pope,  and  gave  him  upwards  of  six  hundred  passages  of 
the  Fathers,  which  clearly  contained  the  doctrines  of  two 
wills,  the  human  and  the  divine,  together  with  Scriptural 
texts.  The  Monothelites  did  all  they  could  to  intercept 
the  holy  bishop ;  but  though  they  waylaid  him  in  a  variety 
of  places,  he  arrived  safely  in  Home,  but  found  Honorius 
had  died. 

Meantime  Sergius  composed  a  document,  which  Heraclius 
published  under  the  title  of  Ecthesis,  or  an  explanation, 
in  639.  The  doctrines  of  the  Trinity  and  of  the  Incarna- 
tion are  clearly  stated  in  Catholic  terms  in  this  document ; 
but  there  is  a  passage  regarding  the  unity  of  will  in  the 
Redeemer,  which  is  susceptible  of  an  explanation  in  either 
sense.  This  document  caused  great  commotion.  Severinus 
was  the  immediate  successor  of  Honorius ;  but  dying  after 
ti  pontificate  of  four  months,  he  was  succeeded  by  John 
IV,  who,  learning  the  true  state  of  the  question  from  the 
Bishop  of  Doria,  condemned  the  Ecthesis  in  640.  Heraclius 
thereupon  revoked  the  document,  and  informed  the  Pope 
that  it  had  been  drawn  up  by  Sergius. 

'This  does  not  touch  tho  infallibility  of  tho  Pope,  since  he  was  here  acting 
not  in  tho  formal  character  of  Pastor  Etcrnua. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-EUROPEAN  TURKEY.          401 

Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Mussulmen,  under  the 
Caliph  Omar,  in  638;  and  in  the  following  year,  on  the 
llth  of  March,  639,  St.  Sophronius  died.  The  Emperor 
Heraelius  was  succeeded  in  641  by  Constantine,  who,  after 
a  reign  of  more  than  three  months,  made  way  for  Hera- 
cleonas,  and  he  in  six  months  was  succeeded  by  the  Em- 
peror Cons  tans,  in  the  same  year  641. 

Sergius,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  died  in  638,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Pyrrhus,  a  Monothelite.  This  prelate,  having 
joined  with  Martina  and  Heracleonas  in  their  wicked 
poisoning  of  Constantine  and  the  usurpation  of  Heracleonas, 
fled  from  the  city  after  the  punishment  of  the  empress  and 
the  usurper.  Paul,  another  Monothelite,  occupied  the  See 
of  Constantinople ;  and  he  prevailed  upon  Constans,  the 
emperor,  in  648,  to  publish  his  edict  called  the  Type, 
imposing  silence  on  the  Catholics  and  the  Monothelites. 
The  Type  was  condemned  by  Pope  Theodore  in  the  same 
year.  Pyrrhus,  having  passed  from  Africa  to  Rome, 
retracted  his  errors,  and  was  received  into  communion  by 
the  Pope.  Thence  he  passed  to  Ravenna,  where,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  exarch  Olympius,  he  relapsed  into  his 
errors,  in  the  expectation  of  being  restored  to  the  favor  of 
the  emperor ;  and  Paul  dying  in  655,  he  again  got  into  the 
see  of  the  imperial  city.  Many  of  the  best,  bravest,  and 
wisest  men  of  the  empire  fell  victims  to  the  relentless 
persecution  of  the  Monothelites :  amongst  them  was  the 
holy  Pope  Martin,  who,  after  severe  torture  in  Constan- 
tinople, died  of  want  and  ill-treatment,  in  exile  in  the 
Chersonesus. 

Constans  dying  in  668,  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Con- 
stantiue  Pogonatus,  who  was  a  Catholic.  He  requested  the 
Pope  Donus  to  assemble  a  council ;  but  that  pontiff,  in 
688,  was  succeeded  by  Agatho,  who  complied  with  the 
emperor's  request,  and  sent  his  legate  to  preside  at  the 
synod,  which  assembled  in  Constantinople  in  the  month  of 
November,  680.  Theodore,  a  Monothelite,  had  succeeded 
Pyrrhus  in  the  see  of  that  city;  and  he  having  been 

26 


402         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-THE   GREEK  SCHISM. 

deposed,  his  place  was  filled  by  George,  a  Catholic.  In 
this  council  the  Monothelite  heresy  was  condemned,  as  were 
its  abettors ;  and  amongst  them  Honorius  the  Pope  had  his 
memory  censured  for  his  criminal  silence  and  neglect  of 
opposing  the  progress  of  heresy.  Pope  Agatho  dying  in 
Rome  before  the  acts  of  the  council  reached  him,  its  canons 
were  confirmed  by  his  successor,  Leo  II.  This  is  the  third 
Council  of  Constantinople  and  the  sixth  general  council. 


THE   GREEK   SCHISM. 
I 

I  FEAR  exceedingly  that  a  pure  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment cannot  be  established  by  this  valorous  people ;  the 
miscalled  Holy  Alliance  cannot  bear  a  free  government  to 
exist  within  the  sphere  of  its  action.1  I  fear  that  the  only 
hope  of  patriotic  and  brave  Greece  must  rest  on  the  posi- 
tion advanced  by  some  of  her  agents  —  even  to  receive  a 
king  from  some  reigning  house  in  Europe.  This  seems  to 
be  the  alternative  between  two  evils ;  to  choose  Egyptian 
bondage  or  European  monarchy,  and  we  can  hardly  blame 
this  suffering  people  for  preferring  the  latter  as  the  less 
of  the  two  evils.  The  friend  of  Greece  and  humanity  must 
shed  a  tear  of  sympathy  over  the  uncertain  and  dangerous 
condition  in  which  Greece  now  stands,  according  to  the 
latest  and  best  authenticated  accounts  from  Europe. 

Having  gone  thus  far  into  the  civil  concerns  of  Greece, 
let  us  see  a  little  of  the  religious  history  of  this  people. 
For  the  first  eight  centuries  of  Christianity,  the  Greek  or 
Eastern  Church  was  in  full  communion  with  the  Western 
or  Latin  Church,  and  under  the  jurisdiction  and  supremacy 
of  the  Bishop  of  Home,  successor  to  St.  Peter,  and  visible 
head  of  the  Church  of  Christ  on  earth.  During  this  period 
several  errors  were  broached  in  the  East.  Much  of  the 

i  These  feara  were  confirmed. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-TEE  GREEK  SCHISM.         403 

Platonic  and  Pagan  philosophy  existed  among  the  Greek 
Christians,  and  by  endeavoring  to  incorporate  or  reconcile 
these  principles  with  the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  several 
errors  in  religion  were  introduced.  In  order  to  correct 
these  errors  and  to  establish  the  true  principles  of  the 
Gospel,  general  councils  of  the  Church  were  from  time  to 
time  convened :  and  so  we  perceive  that  the  first  eight 
general  councils  were  held  in  the  East. 

The  first  was  held  at  Nice,  in  325,  regarding  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  and  condemning  the  Arian  heresy.  The  second  at 
Constantinople,  in  381,  regarding  the  divinity  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  condemning  the  heresy  of  the  Semi-Arians,  the 
Sabellians,  and  the  Macedonians.  The  third  at  Ephesus,  in 
431,  against  the  Nestorians,  showing  that  there  was  only 
one  person  in  Christ,  and  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  the 
Mother  of  God.  The  fourth  at  Chalcedon,  in  451,  against 
the  Eutychians,  showing  that  there  were  two  natures  in  Christ. 
The  fifth  at  Constantinople,  in  553,  respecting  the  errors  of 
Origen  and  the  three  chapters.  The  sixth  at  Constantinople, 
in  680,  against  the  Monothelites,  proving  that  there  were  two 
wills  and  operations  in  Christ.  The  seventh  at  Nice,  in  787, 
condemning  the  Iconoclasts  (image-breakers),  and  establishing 
the  doctrine  of  proper  respect  to  sacred  images.  The  eighth 
at  Constantinople,  in  8G9,  against  the  schism  of  Photius.  This 
proud  and  usurping  prelate  gave  origin  to  the  unfortunate 
separation  of  the  Greek  from  the  Catholic  Church.  Until 
this  period  both  Churches  were  under  one  head,  and  though 
the  Eastern  Church  lost  many  members  by  the  above- 
named  heresies,  the  great  body  were  still  Catholic,  and  in 
full  communion  with  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church  of  Rome. 
One  fact  is  very  striking:  that  though  the  several  sepa- 
ratists of  the  Eastern  Church  differ  from  the  Catholic 
Church,  yet  they  agree  with  her  in  all  those  points  on 
which  Protestants  differ  from  the  Catholic  doctrine. 

The  history  of  Photius,  the  remarkable  schismatic,  must 
be  examined.  Bardas,  the  uncle  of  the  young  Emperor 
Michael,  who  then  governed  the  Eastern  Empire,  gave  great 


404        HISTORICAL   SKETCHES— THE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

scandal  by  his  profligate  mode  of  living.  Ignatius,  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople,  and  son  of  Emperor  Michael  le 
Begue,  predecessor  of  Leo  the  Armenian,  felt  it  his  duty 
to  tell  this  profligate  prince  how  injurious  his  example  was 
to  Christianity.  He  requested  of  him  to  look  at  least  to 
his  own  soul ;  but  this  good  advice  only  inflamed  the  pas- 
sion of  the  royal  delinquent.  This  public  sinner  presented 
himself  to  partake  of  the  Eucharist  on  the  Festival  of 
Pentecost;  the  patriarch  refused  him  the  Holy  Communion. 
Bardas  vowed  vengeance,  and  .formed  a  determination  to 
ruin  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  Emperor.  *  In  three  days  after 
a  deputation  was  sent  to  Ignatius,  requiring  of  him  to 
resign  his  see.  He  resisted  all  promises  and  threats.  The 
emperor  disregarding  the  canons  of  the  Church,  appointed 
Photius  patriarch.  This  wicked  man  possessed  great  accom- 
plishments, of  mind  and  body,  but  his  unbounded  ambition 
and  finished  hypocrisy  tarnished  the  whole.  Having  consid- 
erable property,  he  possessed  the  means  of  making  many 
supporters ;  by  his  assiduous  application  to  literature  he 
acquired  a  great  reputation ;  in  ecclesiastical  learning  he 
made  considerable  proficiency.  Having  secured  the  patron- 
age of  Bardas,  he  paved  the  way  to  his  nomination  to  the 
patriarchate.  He  was  then  a  layman ;  but  he  contrived  to 
get  himself  through  the  several  orders  to  episcopacy  in  six 
days !  At  his  consecration  he  promised  to  hold  communion 
with  Ignatius,  and  in  less  than  two  months  he  declared 
vengeance  against  him  and  all  his  communion.  Ignatius 
was  hurried  from  prison  to  prison  and  most  cruelly  treated. 
Every  means  was  employed  to  force  from  him  a  resigna- 
tion of  his  sec.  But  Photius,  impatient  of  delay,  assembled 
a  sham  council,  with  the  support  of  the  emperor,  and 
declared  Ignatius  deposed.  He  also  procured  the  deposition 
of  all  the  bishops  who  remained  firm  to  Ignatius ;  they  were 
cast  into  prison,  and  Ignatius  was  exiled  to  the  Isle  of  Les- 
bos. In  the  meantime  Photius  sent  a  delegation  to  Home  to 
have  his  own  title  confirmed,  and  the  deposition  of  Igna- 
tius ratified,  on  the  pretence  that  Ignatius,  through  infirmity, 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-TEE  GREEK  SCHISM.          405 

was  no  longer  able  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office. 
Pope  Nicholas  was  on  his  guard ;  he  sent  two  legates  to 
Constantinople  to  get  a  correct  statement  of  the  case.  The 
legates  were  not  permitted  to  inquire  into  the  facts,  and 
were  told  that  if  they  did  not  report  favorably  for  Pho- 
tius  they  would  be  sent  into  cruel  exile.  After  long  resist- 
ance they  yielded  to  the  emperor's  will.  Ignatius  was 
removed  to  the  Isle  of  Terebintius,  where  he  suffered  much  ; 
thence  called  to  assist  at  a  council  formed  in  order  to 
forward  the  views  of  Photius.  Ignatius  intending  to  assist 
in  his  patriarchal  robes,  was  commanded  by  the  emperor 
to  come  in  the  garb  of  a  simple  monk ;  he  obeyed,  and 
came  to  the  council,  where  the  emperor  attended ;  pressed 
to  give  in  his  resignation,  and  not  yielding,  he  was  sent 
away :  in  ten  days  after  he  was  forced  to  return,  for  he 
declared  his  intention  not  to  be  present  at  such  a  council, 
which  was  held  in  violation  of  all  the  rules  of  the  Church. 
False  charges  were  made  against  Ignatius ;  it  was  said  that 
he  had  been  consecrated  without  an  electoral  decree ;  a 
sentence  of  deposition  was  pronounced  against  him ;  he  was 
divested  of  the  pallium  and  of  his  episcopal  robes  and  was 
declared  unworthy  of  the  priesthood.  Photius  caused  him 
to  be  shut  up  in  the  vault  of  Constantine  Copronymus. 
He  was  given  in  charge  to  three  cruel  guards,  who  stripped 
him  of  his  clothes  and  placed  him  on  a  cold  flag  during 
the  rigors  of  the  winter  season.  Left  for  eight  days  with- 
out food  or  repose,  he  was  put  into  a  marble  tomb,  and 
bound  therein,  and  left  a  whole  night  in  this  cruel  pos- 
ture ;  unbound  the  next  day,  and  his  hand  forcibly  put  to 
sign  a  deed,  drawn  up  by  Photius,  to  the  following  pur- 
port :  "  I,  Ignatius,  the  unworthy  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, declare  that  I  have  been  raised  to  this  sec  without 
an  electoral  decree,  and  that  I  have  tyrannically  governed 
the  same."  This  pretended  declaration  was  presented  to  the 
emperor,  and  Ignatius  was  set  at  liberty.  The  illustrious 
prelate  then  sent  to  Rome  a  memorial  signed  by  the  metro- 
politans, fifty  bishops,  and  many  priests ;  he  related  what 
he  had  suffered  and  prayed  for  redress. 


406          HISTORICAL  SKETCHES -THE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

Photius,  not  yet  satisfied,  advised  the  emperor  to  make 
Ignatius  read  aloud  in  the  Church  of  the  Apostles,  at  Con- 
stantinople, his  act  of  resignation,  and  to  cause  his  hand 
to  be  cut  off  and  his  eyes  plucked  out.  Ignatius  being 
informed  of  the  whole,  escaped  this  new  persecution  by 
flight.  In  the  garb  of  a  slave  he  retreated  by  night  from 
the  city,  and  fled  to  the  Isle  of  Propontide.  He  suffered 
much  in  his  flight,  and  was  closely  sought  for  by  Photius. 

In  the  meantime  Photius  wrote  hypocritical  letters  to 
Pope  Nicholas,  saying:  "When  I  reflect  on  the  great  duties 
of  the  episcopal  station,  and  on  the  weakness  of  man,  and 
on  my  own  in  particular,  I  am  surprised  that  any  one 
could  be  found  to  assume  such  serious  obligations.  I  can- 
not express  my  regret  on  beholding  myself  invested  with 
such  a  burden.  My  predecessor  having  resigned  his  see, 
the  clergy,  the  metropolitans,  and  especially  the  emperor, 
full  of  kindness  towards  others,  but  of  cruelty  toward  me, 
and  regardless  of  my  opposition,  have  laid  the  episcopal 
charge  on  my  shoulders.  Thus,  in  spite  of  my  tears  and 
regrets,  they  have  forced  me  into  the  episcopacy."  Con- 
scious of  hifi  own  imposture,  he  exhibited  forged  letters 
from  the  Pope,  which  he  himself  had  penned.  The  forgery 
was  discovered,  but  he  contrived  to  evade  the  deserved 
pmiishmcnt.  Photius  was  equally  criminal  in  concealing 
t!ie  scandals  of  the  Emperor  Michael.  This  profligate  prince 
laughed  at  all  the  ceremonies  and  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

Pope  Nicholas  being  duly  informed  of  what  passed  at 
Constantinople,  held  a  council  and  condemned  Photius  as 
a  usurper.  He  wrote  to  Constantinople,  saying  that  lie 
would  never  hold  communion  with  Photius,  unless  lie 
renounced  his  usurped  see. 

Cscsar  Bardas  met  a  fatal  end,  and  Photius  lost  his 
chief  supporter.  Michael  suspecting  Bardas,  got  him  torn 
to  pieces.  Photius,  yielding  to  the  times,  strongly  inveighed 
against  Bardas,  and  endeavored  to  merit  the  good  graces 
of  Michael.  Many  having  retired  from  the  communion  of 
Photius,  on  receiving  the  papal  mandate,  he  excited  a  vio- 


HISTORICAL   SKETCHES-TEE  GREEK  SCHPSM.         407 

lent  persecution  against  them.  He  deprived  some  of  their 
dignities — others  of  their  property,  and  sent  others  into 
exile.  On  seeing  that  the  Pope  cut  him  off  from  his 
communion,  he  excommunicated  the  Pope  in  turn.  To  give 
a  coloring  to  his  proceedings,  he  held  what  he  called  a 
general  council,  where  the  emperor  presided,  and  some 
legates  from  the  East.  False  charges  and  false  witnesses 
were  produced  against  Pope  Nicholas.  Photius  pretended 
to  take  the  part  of  the  Pope,  and  said  he  ought  not  to 
be  condemned  in  his  absence.  The  members  of  the  council 
opposed  his  feigned  opposition,  and  a  sentence  of  deposition 
was  pronounced  against  the  Pope.  He  sent  the  acts  of  the 
council  to  the  Roman  Emperor,  Lewis,  and  begged  of 
him  to  banish  Pope  Nicholas,  as  being  condemned  by  a 
general  council. 

This  proceeding,  of  course,  broke  off  all  communion 
between  the  See  of  Rome  and  Photius ;  but  to  support 
his  usurpation,  Photius  wrote  a  circular  to  the  Eastern 
bishops,  accusing  the  Latin  Church  of  errors.  Behold  the 
prototype  of  Martin  Luther.  The  accusation  was,  that  the 
Roman  Church  held  that  the  Holy  Ghost  "proceeded  not 
only  from  the  Father,  but  from  the  Son."  To  the  present 
day,  this  is  the  chief  point  on  doctrinal  matters  between 
the  Greek  schismatics  and  the  Catholic  Church. 

Pope  Nicholas  being  informed  of  this  charge,  wrote  a 
pastoral  letter  on  the  unjust  proceedings  of  the  Greek 
emperor,  and  refuted  the  calumnies  advatfeed  against  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

The  Emperor  Michael  still  proceeded  in  his  iniquitous 
career.  AVishing  to  assassinate  Basilius  in  a  chase,  he  was 
himself  killed  by  his  own  guards  in  a  state  of  intoxication, 
and  Basilius  was  proclaimed  emperor.  On  the  next  day 
Photius  was  banished  and  Ignatius  recalled  from  his  exile. 
Basilius,  with  the  advice  of  Ignatius,  wrote  to  Pope  Adrian 
to  assemble  a  general  council,  in  order  to  heal  the  wounds 
inflicted  on  the  Church  by  the  schism  of  Photius.  The 
Pope  sent  three  legates  to  Constantinople,  where  they  were 


408         HISTORICAL  SKETCHED— THE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

received  with  every  mark  of  respect.  The  emperor  paid 
them  due  honors  and  requested  of  them  to  exert  all  their 
influence  to  establish  a  reunion  of  the  Churches. 

II. 

Pope  Adrian,  having  duly  convened  a  general  council  to 
restore  peace  to  the  Greek  Church,  the  council  was  accord- 
ingly opened  on  the  5th  of  October,  869,  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Sophia,  at  Constantinople.  The  Pope's  legates,  to 
whom  was  assigned  the  first  place,  presented  their  creden- 
tials to  the  Emperor  Basilius  or  Basil,  by  whom  they  were 
received  with  marks  of  profound  respect;  the  Patriarch 
Ignatius  took  his  seat  next  to  the  Pope's  legates,  then  the 
legates  from  the  patriarchs  of  Antioch  and  Jerusalem.  The 
bishops  who  suffered  persecution  from  Photius  were  then 
introduced.  At  the  close  of  the  first  session,  the  Pope's 
letter  was  read  to  the  council.  In  the  next  session,  those 
priests  and  bishops,  who  yielded  to  the  violence  or  persua- 
sion of  Photius,  presented  themselves,  and  explained  the 
rigorous  treatment  employed  by  Photius  in  order  to  bring 
them  over  to  his  usurpation.  They  said  they  had  been 
chained,  cast  into  hideous  dungeons,  and  supplied  with  the 
most  offensive  food ;  they,  however,  expressed  their  sorrow 
for  having  fallen. 

By  order  of  the  legates,  Photius  attended  at  the  fifth 
session ;  on  his  appearance,  they  exclaimed :  "  Is  this  Pho- 
tius who  has  caused  so  much  trouble  in  the  Church?" 
Photius  affected  a  profound  silence,  quoted  some  texts  of 
Scripture,  false  in  their  application  and  offensive  to  the 
council;  he  persisted  in  his  silence — was  required  to  yield 
to  the  voice  of  the  council — answered  by  reciting  more 
texts  of  Scripture,  which  did  not  bear  on  the  question, 
and  which  only  exposed  his  hypocrisy. 

The  Emperor  attended  at  the  sixth  session ;  the  bishops 
favorable  to  Photius  were  present,  and  on  being  convinced 
of  their  error,  the  greater  part  renounced  the  schism. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— THE  GREEK  SCHISM.         409 

Photius  was  again  exhorted  in  the  seventh  to  submit.  He 
replied  that  he  had  no  answer  to  make  to  calumny.  In 
the  eighth  session,  the  imposition  and  foul  means  prac- 
ticed by  Photius,  in  order  to  create  and  continue  the 
schism,  were  investigated  and  fully  detected.  Many  of  the 
image-breakers  abjured  their  error.  In  the  ninth  session, 
penance  had  been  imposed  on  the  false  witnesses  who  were 
procured  against  Ignatius.  When  the  partizans  and  accom- 
plices in  crime  of  the  Emperor  Michael  were  arraigned  for 
their  wicked  proceedings,  they  advanced  as  an  excuse  the 
threats  and  menaces  of  that  prince. 

At  the  tenth  and  last  session,  the  emperor,  with  his 
son,  Constantine,  attended ;  the  three  ambassadors  from 
Lewis,  Emperor  of  Italy  and  France,  and  those  from 
Michael,  King  of  Bulgaria,  were  present,  and  about  one 
hundred  bishops.  They  approved  of  the  seven  general 
«ouncils — confirmed  the  sentence  of  Popes  Nicholas  and 
Adrian  against  Photius.  Twenty-seven  canons  of  discipline 
were  drawn  up,  and  a  confession  of  faith  against  the  errors 
of  the  "  Monothelites  and  Iconoclasts." 

The  pride  of  Photius  would  not  submit;  for  the  space 
of  eight  years,  which  he  passed  in  exile,  he  was  devising 
means  for  his  restoration.  He  endeavored,  by  a  singular 
stratagem,  to  secure  the  favor  of  the  Emperor  Basil.  He 
framed  a  genealogy,  in  which  he  flattered  the  pride  of  the 
prince  by  tracing  his  origin  to  Tiridades,  King  of  Armenia, 
and  enriched  this  genealogy  with  a  prophecy  "that  the  reign 
of  Basil  would  be  more  illustrious  than  any  of  his  pre- 
decessors." Photius  transcribed  this  fictitious  narrative  on 
three  old  parchments,  and  enveloped  them  in  a  moth-eaten 
cover  and  thus  couched  sent  them  to  Theophanes,  the 
emperor's  secretary,  with  whom  he  had  previously  com- 
pounded on  the  subject.  • 

Theophanes  showed  this  roll  to  the  emperor  as  being 
the  oldest  and  most  curious  manuscript  in  the  library,  and 
said  that  nobody  was  able  to  read  or  explain  it  but  Pho- 
tius. Basil,  ignorant  of  the  deception,  yielded  to  the  impulse 


410         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-TEE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

of    vanity,    recalled    Photius,    received   him   kindly,    and   gave 
him   free    access    to    his    presence. 

Ignatius  fell  dangerously  ill  in  the  80th  year  of  his  age. 
On  the  24th  of  October,  while  the  divine  office  was  reciting 
fit  midnight,  Ignatius  inquired  whose  feast  the  Church 
celebrated  on  the  next  day;  he  was  told  that  of  St.  James, 
called  the  brother  of  our  Lord;  he  answered,  that  is  my 
"  patron"  saint,  and  having  given  his  benediction  to  his 
clergy,  he  slept  in  the  Lord.  The  Greek  and  Latin 
Churciies  honor  h:s  memory  on  the  day  of  his  death. 

Photius  finding  Ignatius  the  great  obstacle  to  his  ambi- 
tious views  no  more,  assumed  again  the  patriarchal  chair, 
and  persecuted  the  friends  and  adherents  of  Ignatius,  and 
all  in  his  communion.  He  gained  over  some  by  promises, 
others  by  threats,  and  those  who  remained  faithful  he  put 
to  death.  He  gained  over  the  two  legates  sent  by  Pope 
John  to  Constantinople,  regarding  some  ecclesiastical  mat- 
ters in  Bulgaria.  He  sent  delegates  to  Rome  with  insidious 
letters,  in  order  to  have  himself  recognized  as  the  legiti- 
mate Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  He  convened  a  council, 
which  he  endeavored  to  render  as  numerous  and  as  respect- 
able as  he  could.  He  contrived  to  make  it  appear  that 
the  Pope  recognized  him  as  a  brother  patriarch.  He  was 
then  extolled  as  a  prodigy  of  learning,  moderation,  and 
piety.  He  induced  the  Roman  legates  to  declare  him  legiti- 
mate patriarch,  and  to  condemn  the  proceedings  of  the 
eighth  general  council.  The  Emperor  Basil  assisted  at  the 
sixth  session  of  this  sham  council,  where  they  rescinded  that 
article  of  the  general  council  of  Constantinople,  which  decreed 
that  "the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son." 

Yet  iniquity  could  not  prevail ;  Pope  John  being 
informed  that  Photius  did  not  demand  pardon  for  his  past 
transgressions,  and  that  he  endeavored  to  reverse  the  sentence 
declared  against  him  by  a  general  council,  he  (the  Pope) 
rejected  him  and  his  false  council.  The  succeeding  Pontiffs, 
Martin,  Adrian  III,  and  Stephen  V,  equally  condemned  the 
proceedings  of  Photius. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-TEE  GREEK  SCHISM.          411 

The  Emperor  Basil  died  in  886,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Leo  VI,  surnaraed  the  Philosopher,  who  Avas  fully  aware 
of  the  iniquitous  and  schismatical  acts  of  Photius.  The 
great  schismatic  was  exiled  to  the  monastery  of  the 
Armenians,  where  he  soon  finished  his  evil  career.  Peace 
and  unity  were  then  restored  to  the  Greek  Church. 

I  have  endeavored  to  compress  these  facts  into  as  narrow 
limits  as  possible,  in  order  not  to  weary  some  of  my 
readers  who  appear  to  have  a  great  aversion  to  lengthened 
discussions.  Unfortunately  we  have  no  good  ecclesiastical 
history  in  the  English  language.1  The  histories  in  Latin 
and  French  are  rather  voluminous,  and  hence  it  is  no  easy 
matter  to  collect  a  good  account  of  Church  concerns  in  a 
few  pages.  It  would  be  much  easier  to  give  copious 
extracts  than  succinct  narratives  on  such  matters,  but  my 
time  and  labor  are  for  the  public  and  so  I  shall  spare  no 
pains  to  satisfy  them. 

III. 

In  the  death  of  Photius  the  schismatics  lost  their  head 
and  chief  support :  the  majority  of  the  people  returned  to 
Catholic  ministry  and  truth.  The  letters  and  works  of 
Photius  being  in  considerable  circulation  kept  alive  the 
spirit  of  disobedience  to  the  mother  Church.  Though  the 
materials  for  fresh  schism  were  for  a  considerable  time  ready 
to  burst  forth  into  open  insubordination,  yet  it  was  not 
till  the  year  1050  that  the  brand  of  discord  was  violently 
hurled  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church  by  Michael  Cerullarius, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  a  bold  proselyte  to  the 
views  of  Photius.  Many  of  the  Greek  bishops  were  anxious 
for  some  occasion  of  renewing  the  schism,  and  of  finding 
some  resolute  champion  in  their  cause.  The  patriarch  of 
Constantinople  had  lately  assumed  the  title  of  Universal 
Bishop,  knowing  well  that  such  a  step  would  not  pass 
unnoticed  by  the  Pope.  Italy  was  at  this  period  in  a 

1  Hefelo's  History,  now  being  translated,  is  such  a  work,  though  it  bears  only  on 
tho  fir^t  a^s. 


•±12         HISTORICAL  SKETCUES-TEE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

divided  condition,  and  the  seat  of  Avar  and  desolation,  and 
from  the  intrigue  and  influence  of  some  corrupt  chieftains 
and  princes,  unworthy  men  were  raised  to  the  papal  chair, 
which  they  dishonored  by  their  irregular  lives,  and  which 
brought  scandal  on  the  Church,  and  sunk  the  papal  authority 
in  the  esteem  of  the  Greek  Church. 

During  this  state  of  affairs,  Michael  Cerullarius  wrote  a 
letter  to  one  of  the  Latin  bishops,  which  at  once  revived 
and  propagated  the  old  schism.  He  attempted  to  prove  to 
all  the  Latin  bishops,  that  Christ,  after  having  celebrated 
the  ancient  Paseh  in  Azymes  or  unleavened  bread,  instituted 
the  pasch  or  Eucharistic  Sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  in 
leavened  bread,  and  hence  Cerullarius  charged  the  Latin 
Church  with  error ;  he  also  accused  the  Latins  for  shaving 
their  beards,  for  fasting  on  Saturdays,  for  eating  strangled 
meat,  and  for  inserting  the  word  "  filioque, — from  the  Son," 
in  the  Nicene  Creed,  and  thereby  expressing  their  belief  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  from  the 
Son.  He  brought  other  charges  equally  false  and  frivolous 
against  the  Church,  in  that  the  kiss  of  peace  was  given  at 
Mass  before  the  Communion,  that  alleluiah  was  not  sung  in 
Lent,  and  that  due  respect  was  not  paid  to  the  memory 
and  relics  of  the  saints ;  he  concluded  by  saying  that  as 
soon  as  the  Latin  Church  would  correct  these  errors,  he 
would  send  other  important  communications.  This  at  once 
put  the  schism  beyond  the  hope  of  a  reconciliation. 

Cardinal  Humbert,  having  read  this  letter,  translated  it 
into  Latin,  and  fient  a  copy  of  it  to  Pope  Leo  IX.  The 
Pope  replied  in  a  long  letter,  wherein  he  first  complained 
of  the  conduct  of  those  who  were  endeavoring  to  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  the  Church ;  he  then  added :  "  Is  the 
Church  of  Rome,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  one 
thousand  years  since  the  passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
now  to  begin  to  learn  how  to  celebrate  the  '  institution '  of 
the  last-  supper?  Are  the  instructions  of  the  Apostles 
Peter  and  Paul,  then  of  no  use?"  The  conclusion 
of  this  letter  was  worthy  of  the  common  Father  and 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES— THE  GREEK  SCHISM.         413 

of  Rome.  "  Let  the  Greeks  follow  the  traditions  of  their 
fathers.  We  know  that  the  difference  of  customs,  according 
to  times  and  nations,  is  not  injurious  to  salvation,  pro- 
vided we  be  united  in  faith  and  charity." 

In  the  meantime  the  Emperor  Constantine  Monourachus, 
wishing,  through  political  motives,  to  keep  in  with  the 
Pope,  wrote  him  a  letter  in  which  he  expressed  his 
anxiety  to  support  the  union  of  both  Churches,  and  he 
induced  Cerullarius  to  write  to  the  same  effect.  On  receiv- 
ing these  letters,  Leo  replied,  and  sent  three  legates,  of 
whom  Cardinal  Humbert  was  the  chief.  In  the  letter  to 
Cerullarius  the  Pope  styled  him  merely  Bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, which  was  not  conducive  to  reconcile  one  to 
the  Catholic  Church,  who  seemed  so  desirous  of  .schism. 
The  legates  were  respectfully  received  by  the  emperor,  and 
Cardinal  Humbert  replied  to  the  letter  of  Cerullarius,  in 
which  he  fully  vindicated  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  from 
the  charges  of  Cerullarius.  He  showed  that  Jesus  Christ 
celebrated  the  Eucharist  in  unleavened  bread,  and  supported 
with  the  great  body  of  commentators  that  Christ  celebrated 
the  legal  Pasch,  which  could  not  be  celebrated  with  any 
other  but  unleavened  bread. 

This  answer  made  no  impression  on  Cerullarius ;  he 
refused  to  see  or  communicate  with  the  legates. 

They  indignantly  expressed  their  displeasure  at  his  con- 
duct ;  perhaps  they  went  too  far.  They  went  to  the  Church 
of  St.  Sophia  and  laid  on  the  altar  a  sentence  of  excom- 
munication against  Cerullarius  in  presence  of  his  clergy  and 
flock ;  they  then  retired,  and  shook  the  dust  from  off  their 
feet,  exclaiming :  "  May  God  behold  him  and  judge  him." 
The  form  of  excommunication  ended  with  these  words : 
"  By  authority  of  the  blessed  Trinity,  of  the  Apostolic  See, 
of.  the  seven  general  councils  of  the  Catholic  Church,  we 
subscribe  to  the  sentence  of  excommunication  pronounced 
by  the  Pope,  and  say,  let  Michael  Cerullarius,  the  pre- 
tended patriarch,  guilty  of  many  crimes,  and  Leo,  Bishop 
of  Arcadia,  and  all  their  followers,  be  separated  from  the 


414         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES-TEE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

Church  until  they  be  converted  and  do  penance.  Amen, 
Amen,  Amen."  They  also  forbade  the  laity  of  Constanti- 
nople to  receive  the  Holy  Communion  from  any  clergyman 
who  attributed  errors  to  the  Latin  Church.  Finally,  they 
received  the  passport  from  the  emperor  and  some  presents 
for  the  Pope.  Such  a  proceeding  increased  the  schism 
instead  of  subduing  it.  Cerullarius,  highly  incensed  at  this 
act,  issued  a  counter-decree :  this  decree  bore  his  name  and 
those  of  fourteen  metropolitans,  and  declared  that  these 
legates,  in  attempting  to  corrupt  the  holy  doctrine,  were 
condemned  by  the  emperor. 

The  Greeks  after  this  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  a 
reconciliation  with  the  Latin  Church.  They  mutually  encour- 
aged each  other  to  support  the  schism.  They  supposed  that 
the  hasty  proceedings  of  the  legates  fully  justified  them, 
and  erroneously  attributed  the  faults  of  three  individuals 
to  the  whole  body  of  the  Catholic  Church.  This  is  a 
common  way  of  acting  Avith  all  separatists.  The  schism 
then  considerably  extended  its  pestilential  influence.  Cities 
and  provinces  were  soon  involved  in  the  vortex,  and  it 
came  at  last  to  such  a  pitch  that  the  Greeks  looked  with 
more  indignation  on  the  members  of  the  Latin  Church 
than  they  did  on  the  very  pagans.  Such  are  the  evil  effects 
of  passion,  disappointment,  and  the  violation  of  Christian 
unity.  \Ve  see  to  the  present  day  the  same  melancholy 
effects  produced  by  similar  feelings.  Would  to  God  that 
we  all  had  but  "  one  heart  and  one  spirit,"  like  the  primi- 
tive Christians!  May  the  God  of  peace  and  charity  infuse 
into  us  His  Holy  Spirit  of  unity! 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 


I. 

THERE  is  a  monthly  magazine  called  the  Christian  Advo- 
cate, published  in  Philadelphia,  by  A.  Finley,  in  the  sixty- 
seventh  number  of  which,  for  July,  1828,  is  found  the 
following  preface  to  a  dissertation: 

""We  are  indebted  to  a  clerical  brother,  to  whom  we 
lent  a  few  numbers  of  the  'Archives  du  Christianisme/ 
for  the  following  translation.  It  will  convey  useful  infor- 
mation to  many  of  our  readers,  and  we  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  the  serious  consideration  of  all  ths  remarks  of 
the  translator  at  the  close.  While  the  Romanists  are  pur- 
suing an  organized  system  to  diffuse  their  pernicious  errors 
in  our  country,  it  does  seem  to  us  that  some  systematic, 
endeavors  should  bo  employed  to  counteract  them." 

This  dissertation  and  its  appendages  are  published  to  the- 
American  people  as  a  deliberate  attack  upon  what  the 
writer  is  pleased  to  call  the  Romanists,  that  is,  the  Roman 
Catholics,  to  whose  body  I  have  the  honor  and  happiness 
of  belonging.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  organized  system 
amongst  us,  save  that  which  is  common  to  all  our  brethren 
of  other  denominations :  the  system  of  having  our  public 
churches  and  our  regular  ministry.  If  a  line  of  distinction 
were  to  bo  drawn  between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the 
Protestant  Churches  of  the  United  States,  upon  tho  point 
of  "organized  system,"  I  am  of  opinion  t'mt,  owing  to 
circumstances  which  I  am  in  charity  bouiivl  to  suppose 
beyond  the  control  of  those  with  whom-  the  remedy  lies, 
the  former  is  manifestly  the  worst  organized  Church  in 
our  States ;  l  and  it  is  notoriously  defective  in  the  essential 

1  This  was  written  A.  D.  1829,  sinoi  wh3n  the  principal  defects  lamented  by 
the  writer  have  been  supplied;  this  langruasre  therefore  cannot  correctly  be  applied 
to  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  Unitel  States  as  it  now  exists. 

(4!5) 


416  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

points  of  system,  which  are  community  of  counsel  and 
unity  of  action.  If  irony  and  sarcasm  were  intended  by 
the  writer,  I  lament  that  he  has  had  the  cause  afforded 
for  his  display;  yet  still  he  might  have  pitied  our  weak- 
ness, and  if  our  failure  was  desirable,  he  might  have  con- 
tinued satisfied  that  until  we  shall  be  able,  not  to  mend 
our  system  but  to  supply  its  want  and  to  organize  our 
provincial  Church,  we  must  be  exposed  to  mortification  and 
disappointment.  He  should  not  then  have  made  what  does 
not  exist  a  pretext  for  this  rude  assault;  and  despicable 
as  our  weakness  may  be,  it  cannot  be  admitted  to  excuse 
his  want  of  urbanity. 

This  writer  complains  of  the  attempt  to  diffuse  our  per- 
nicious errors.  Can  he  be  a  Protestant  who  writes  thus  ? 
The  first  principle  of  a  Protestant  is,  that  the  Bible,  as 
understood  by  those  who  earnestly  seek  after  truth,  will 
lead  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  not  to  pernicious  error; 
now  we  discover  our  doctrines  in  this  sacred  book  as 
understood  by  us  after  earnest  search.  It  is  true  our 
tenets  do  not  agree  with  the  opinions  of  the  writer  in  the 
Advocate,  but  surely  he  claims  no  infallibility  for  himself 
nor  for  his  Church.  How  dares  he,  then,  call  those  tenets 
drawn  by  us  from  the  Word  of  God  pernicious  errors, 
when  it  is,  according  to  his  own  principle,  equally  a  chance 
that  he  is  in  error  and  that  we  follow  the  truth  ? 

I  cannot  avoid  here  noticing  another  exhibition  of  his 
intention  to  undervalue  us ;  but  it  is  not  peculiar  to  him,  it 
is  pretty  general.  Writing  in  his  own  name,  or  in  that 
of  the  denomination  to  which  he  belongs,  he  calls  America 
our  country.  Really,  I  always  looked  upon  America  to  be 
as  much  the  country  of  old  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton 
as  of  any  Presbyterian  gentleman  or  of  any  clerical  brother 
who  writes  for  the  Christian  Advocate,  although  I  have 
frequently  known  the  vainglorious  boasting  of  men,  who  in 
the  same  breath  proclaimed  our  Union,  "  a  Protestant 
country,"  and  bewailing  that  the  people  here  sat  in  dark- 
ness and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  complained  that  they 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  417 

Avere  Sabbath-breakers,  even  to  the  travelling  in  stages  and 
steamboats,  yea,  so  far  as  to  permit  small  meats  to  be 
sold  in  open  market,  in  Southern  cities,  on  the  summer 
Sabbath  morning ! 

However,  it  seems  that  full  scope  was  not  afforded  for 
the  zeal  of  the  writer  in  the  wrestling  with  those  abomi- 
nations, but  that  he  had  a  superabundance  which  could 
only  be  expended  upon  the  Romanists.  Neither  was  he 
content  that  the  venerable  Bishop  White  and  his  brother 
Bowen,  together  with  their  two  armies  of  zealous  ladies, 
should  have  the  exclusive  honor  of  pelting  Popish  pastors 
Avith  their  paper  pellets  for  their  enormous  errors,  but  that 
this  chosen  one  should,  like  another  Saul,  lead  his  host  to 
complete  the  victory  by  pursuing  the  Philistines,  whom  Jona- 
than and  his  armor-bearer  had  already  routed. 

It  cannot  be  unknown  to  all  that  "systematic  endeavors" 
have  been  during  a  long  period  "  employed  to  counteract  the 
Romanists"  in  all  parts  of  this  Union,  from  the  period  when 
the  ebulitions  of  zeal  against  Popery  in  New  England  and  in 
Georgia  rendered  abortive  the  mission  of  Franklin,  of  Carroll, 
and  of  Chase  into  Canada,  doAvn  to  the  present  day.  You 
that  have  ears  to  hear  must  frequently  have  found  the  religion 
of  your  Catholic  progenitors  "systematically"  denounced  in 
prayer  and  in  declamation  from  the  desk,  the  pulpit,  and  the 
stump;  in  the  tale  of  your  horrified  grandam  and  of  your 
enthusiastic  attendant  in  the  nursery;  in  conning  over  the 
spelling  and  the  reading  book  of  your  infancy,  in  the  nasal 
eloquence  of  your  pedantic  pedagogue,  in  the  learned  lucu- 
brations of  your  proud  professor,  as  Avell  as  in  the  pretty 
lispings  of  your  sweet  Sunday-school  spinsters.  Yea,  this 
is  but  a  faint  outline  of  the  "systematic  endeavors,"  which 
are  so  powerfully  aided  by  the  upturned  eye,  the  sigh  of 
pity,  the  ejaculation  of  pious  wonder,  and  the  sanctimonious 
sneer.  If  missions  hither  and  thither,  if  the  donations  and 
legacies  of  the  wealthy,  if  the  gathering  of  the  mites  of 
the  poor,  the  calculation  of  the  back  stitches  and  the 

27 


418  ST.  PETERS  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

hemmings  and  fellings  of  the  industrious,  the  prayers  of 
those  who  are  "powerful  to  wrestle  with  the  Lord/'  the 
publication  of  the  conversions  of  L  ;iik  Papists  in  blank 
places  to  the  amount  of  blank  numbers,  testified  by  blank 
witnesses  to  blank  persons  of  blank  respectability;  if  the 
distribution  of  tracts  filled  with  misrepresentations  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  and  practices,  and  a  thousand  other 
such  modes  of  "systematic  endeavors,"  be  not  already  in 
existence,  the  people  of  America  are  indeed  deluded.  What 
farther  "systematic  endeavors  should  be  employed  to  coun- 
teract the  Romanists,"  the  holy  editor  saith  not ;  and  we 
cannot  determine  unless  he  would  induce  all  the  States  to 
imitate  North  Carolina  and  New  Jersey  in  their  degrading 
bigotry;  for  you  are  of  course  aware,  my  friends,  that 
neither  of  those  two  sanctified  States  will  admit  a  Papist 
to  hold  any  civil  office.  1 

The  editor  then  gives  the  translation  of  an  article  from 
a .  French  publication,  AreJiives  du  Christianisme,  "  On  the 
residence  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,"  which  dissertation  I  intend 
to  examine,  and  then  subjoins: 

"  Note  by  the  Translator. — It  will  appear  from  M.  Blanc's 
Scriptural  statement  of  the  question  respecting  Peter's  resi- 
dence at  Rome,  that  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  that 
Apostle  ever  saw  Rome,  and  demonstrably  evident  that  he 
never  was  bishop  of  that  city.  This  removes  the  very 
corner-stone  on  which  Roman  Catholicism  rests.  For  if 
Peter  was  not  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  Bishops  or  Popes  of 
Rome  are  not  his  successors ;  and  even  the  most  devoted 
Catholic  must  then  see,  that  the  assumed  authority  of  the 
Pope  is  an  unhallowed  and  unchristian  usurpation,  the 
traditions  of  the  Romish  Church  a  tissue  of  human  inven- 
tions, and  the  infallibility  of  that  Church  a  dream.  At  a 
time  when  the  emissaries  of  that  delusion  are  compassing 
sea  and  land  to  gain  proselytes,  especially  in  the  South 
and  "West  of  our  land,  it  is  believed  that  the  above  brief 
exposure  of  the  false  foundation  on  which  they  build  their 

>Tho  law  Is  now  changed. 


ST.  PETEIt'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  419 

Babel,  may  not  be  unprofitable.  In  France,  it  lias  been 
republished  and  circulated  in  the  form  of  a  tract,  and  it 
might  be  attended  with  benefit  to  souls,  if  several  thousand 
copies  of  it  were  dispersed  in  those  portions  of  our  own 
country  which  are  most  exposed  to  the  influence  and  the 
arts  of  men,  who  would  have  the  whole  world  to  wonder 
after  and  worship  '  the  beast/ 

"The  translator,  in  a  letter  to  the  editor,  which  accom- 
panied the  above,  very  justly  adds : 

" l  It  seems  to  me  that  Protestants  should  not  be  idle 
spectators  of  the  exertions  of  the  Catholic  priests  to  waylay 
the  unwary  and  destroy  the  simple.  I  have  access  to  a 
weekly  paper  published  in  Charleston  called  the  United 
States  Catholic  Miscellany,  which  affords  melancholy  proof 
of  their  industry,  success,  and  deep  delusion — as  well  as 
of  their  hatred  of  Protestant  teachers,  and  of  the  unblushing 
falsehoods  they  invent  and  propagate  to  rivet  the  fetters  of 
their  followers  and  decoy  the  ignorant  into  their  toils.'" 

Allow  me  to  address  the  public  freely.  You  who  differ 
from  me  in  religious  sentiment  are  too  frequently  under 
the  impression  that  we  are  continually  in  the  habit  of 
using  insulting  and  opprobrious  language  to  you  and  of 
you,  and  that  you  and  your  ministers  always  speak  of  us 
in  kind,  mild,  charitable,  affectionate,  and  conciliating  terms. 
I  would  take  the  liberty  of  requesting  you  who  agree  in 
tenets  with  the  Christian  Advocate,  to  observe  for  a  few 
Sabbaths  the  mode  in  which  Roman  Catholics  are  mentioned 
or  alluded  to  by  your  ministers  in  their  prayers  and 
preachings ;  and  if  you  have  ever  heard  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest,  ask  your  own  conscience  whether  in  his  service  you 
found  him  style  you  or  your  congregation  beasts ;  whether 
you  heard  him  using  the  phrases  which  are  here  used 
regarding  our  clergy;  seeking  unhallowed  and  unchristian 
usurpation,  emmissacies  of  delusion,  and  our  Church  a 
Babel !  Do  not  then,  I  pray  you,  be  over  hasty  in  con- 
demning us  of  want  of  charity  and  boasting  of  your 
superior  liberality. 


420  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

I  put  it  to  you  whether  a  more  insulting  and  ungenerous 
passage  could  be  produced  than  that  here  used  against  the 
"Catholic  priests,"  viz.:  that  they  "waylay  the  unwary  and 
destroy  tho  simple."  It  is  not  surpassed  by  the  description 
which  follows  of  the  mode — "  hatred  of  Protestant  teachers, 
deep  delusion,  unblushing  falsehoods  invented  by  them  and 
propagated  by  them  to  rivet  the  fetters  of  their  followers 
and  decoy  the  ignorant  into  their  toils."  And  where  is  the 
proof  of  this  terrible  charge  to  be  found?  Upon  the 
pages  of  the  United  States  Catholic  Miscellany.  You  are  in 
the  habit  of  reading  those  pages,  and  I  ask  you  whether 
they  inculcate  that  hatred,  whether  they  exhibit  that  false- 
hood? I  unequivocally  assert  that  a  more  insolent  spirit 
of  bigotry  was  never  breathed  than  in  this  wretched 
expression,  a  more  unfounded  charge  has  never  been  made 
than  in  this  offensive  paragraph.  And  yet  those  men  boast 
of  their  superior  charity  and  of  their  superior  meekness ! 
In  the  name  of  insulted  truth,  let  them  vindicate  them- 
selves if  they  can ;  let  them  produce  from  the  pages  of 
the  Miscellany  even  one  passage  which  exhibits  a  tithe  of 
the  hatred  to  Presbyterian  or  to  any  other  Protestant 
teachers  which  is  here  expressed  by  this  holy  man,  this 
"  clerical  brother,"  against  "  Catholic  priests ;"  and  if  they 
cannot,  what  ought  to  be  thought  of  this  Christian  Advocate? 

The  great  object,  however,  is  to  induce  "  Protestants  not 
to  be  idle  spectators  of  the  exertions  of  the  Catholic 
priests."  Now  this  forcibly  reminds  me  of  a  scene  which 
I  once  witnessed  in  a  court-house.  The  judges  were  much 
anm.yed  by  the  loud  though  indistinct  muttering  of  some 
fellow  and  one  of  them  called  to  the  sheriff  to  seize  upon 
the  delinquent  and  thrust  him  into  the  dock,  upon  which 
the  tone  was  changed,  and  his  honor  very  audibly  addressed : 
"  I  defy  you  and  the  sheriff,  for  I  am  already  in  the 
dock,"  and  the  cachinnations  of  the  crowd  (to  use  a  big 
but  expressive  word)  amused  the  disturber,  whilst  they  irri- 
tated the  bench.  So  it  is  with  our  priests ;  they  are 
already  in  the  dock ;  and  the  advocate  of  our  castigation 


ST.  PETER  S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  421 

knows,  that  from  Maine  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlantic 
the  Stony  Mountains,  some  thousands  of  roarers  and 
some  hundreds  cf  presses  assail  us  and  oppose  the  "exer- 
tions of  the  Catholic  priests,"  whilst  collectors  of  rags  and 
of  corn  and  of  cents  and  of  dollars  incessantly  beg  for 
provender  and  raiment,  not  only  to  feed  the  enthusiastic 
host  of  the  heavenly  assailants,  but  also  to  train  up  others 
so  that  they  may  enter,  ready  drilled  and  fully  armed,  to 
occupy  the  places  of  the  veterans  who  might  fall  asleep 
in  the  Lord.  Neither  is  the  arm  of  the  flesh  always 
restrained,  nor  doth  the  sword  of  Gideon  always  rust  in 
its  scabbard ;  for  beside  that  the  fat  of  the  land  is  openly 
reserved  for  the  chosen  ones  of  Israel  in  North  Carolina 
and  New  Jersey,  I  could  recount  the  acts  of  stout  warriors 
who  can  smite  powerfully  in  secret  and  destroy  the  unholy 
under  the  guise  of  liberality.  The  Christian  Advocate  might 
then  rest  fully  satisfied  that  the  sons  of  Protestant  Israel 
neither  sleep  nor  slumber;  and  though  he  might'  himself 
abominate  works  of  supererogation  in  theory,  he  hath  in 
this  instance  been  heterodox  in  practice ;  for  of  a  truth, 
it  is  a  work  of  supererogation  to  call  upon  Protestants,  as 
he  hath  done,  to  oppose  the  priests. 

II. 

The  question  which  the  dissertation  undertakes  to  dispose 
of,  is,  whether  the  Apostle  St.  Peter  was  at  Rome,  and 
the  conclusion  drawn  is,  that  he  was  never  in  that  city. 
The  grounds  upon  which  it  is  drawn  are  two.  First,  that 
the  authorities  testifying  the  fact  of  his  having  been  there 
are  unworthy  of  credit ;  second,  that  his  having  been  there 
is  incompatible  with  the  truth  of  the  New  Testament. 

This  question  was  never  raised  during  upwards  of  thir- 
teen hundred  years,  and  through  that  whole  period  every 
Christian  writer  that  we  know  of,  who  had  occasion  to 
mention  the  subject,  stated  as  notorious  facts,  universally 
admitted,  that  St.  Peter  not  only  was  at  Rome,  but  that 


422  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

he  was  Bishop  of  Rome  and  was  put  to  death  in  the 
reign  of  Nero  for  his  religion.  It  is  said  that  a  teacher  of 
WicklifF,  named  William,  asserted  that  Peter  never  was  at 
Rome,  and  this  is  the  earliest  contradiction.  Be  that  as  it 
may;  Ulric  Veleuus,  a  Lutheran,  wrote  a  book  to  prove 
that  this  Apostle  never  saw  the  city;  Illyricus  also  says 
lie  demonstrated  it.  Calvin  only  doubts  upon  the  subject; 
and  since  his  day,  the  question  has  been  settled  by  various 
Protestants  just  as  they  pleased;  but  unquestionably  some 
of  their  most  erudite  antiquarians  are  to  be  found  in  the 
English  division,  many  of  the  best  informed  amongst 
whom  state  it  to  be  unquestionable,  in  point  of  fact,  that 
not  only  was  he  there,  but  that  he  was  Bishop  there  and 
died  there. 

I  believe  it  is  in  Frey  Gerundo  the  advice  is  given  to 
a  young  preacher  who  would  bring  himself  into  notice,  by 
exciting  the  astonishment  of  his  congregation,  to  commence 
boldly  by  proclaiming,  in  a  loud  and  dogmatic  tone,  some 
astounding  heresy  or  error,  and  then,  after  a  suitable 
pause,  in  a  more  subdued  tone,  inform  his  hearers  that 
he  means  to  controvert  and  to  demolish  what  he  has  laid 
before  them.  If  I  mistake  not,  the  exemplification  which 
is  given  is  the  following : — I  deny  that  in  the  Godhead 
there  arc  three  persons !  So  says  the  Socinian,  whose  errors 
I  mean  to  combat.  Upon  reading  the  commencement  of 
Monsieur  Blanc's  dissertation,  I  was  forcibly  reminded  of 
the  Portuguese  preceptor  of  the  young  friar  who  aspired 
to  pulpit  fame. 

"  It  is  upon  the  testimony  of  Papias,  Bishop  of  Hier- 
apoli.s,  that  the  Popish  tradition  rests,  respecting  St.  Peter's 
being  at  Rome,  his  founding  a  Church  there,  and  for 
twenty-five  years  discharging  in  it  the  functions  of  a  bishop. 
Papias  was  copied  by  Clement  of  Alexandria ;  Clement 
was  copied  by  Euscbius,  and  the  latter  has  been  copied 
by  many  authors,  ancient  and  modern,  who  have  been, 
perhaps,  too  much  interested  to  render  credible  a  fact, 
which  will  always  be  of  very  little  importance  to  "those 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  423 

who  build  their  faith,  not  on  the  person  of  St.  Peter,  but 
upon  the  corner-stone,  Jesus  Christ.  The  account  of  Papias, 
which  is  based  upon  a  hearsay  only,  abouir  eighty  years 
after  the  occurrence  to  which  it  refers,  is  still  extant,  and 
is  full  of  fables  and  ridiculous  tales — such  as  the  contest 
which  this  Apostle  sustained  against  Simon  the  sorcerer, 
his  crucifixion,  with  his  head  downwards — as  if  Nero  had 
left  to  the  Christians  the  care  of  settling  the  forms  of 
their  own  punishment — and  other  similar  things,  which 
were  reported  originally  only  by  this  Papias  himself.  Euse- 
bius,  speaking  of  him,  calls  him  '&  man  of  narrow  genius, 
and  too  credulous.' " 

Nobly  demolished!  But  allow  me  to  gather  up  the  frag- 
ments. First  I  must  see  who  Papias  was.  He  was  Bishop 
of  Hierapolis,  and  flourished  about  the  beginning  of  the 
second  century.  St.  Peter  wras  put  to  death  in  the  year 
65  or  66.  Papias  died  about  the  year  150,  when  he  was 
considerably  upwards  of  eighty  years  old,  at  the  very  low- 
est calculation;  I  might  more  safely  say  much  older.  Thus 
in  place  of  being  a  gatherer  of  hearsay  at  the  distance 
of  eighty  years  after  the  time  of  Peter,  this  prelate  was 
more  properly  speaking  a  contemporary  of  the  Apostle? 
though  not  his  acquaintance  nor  his  hearer,  but  very  young 
and  living  at  a  distance.  He  lived,  according  to  all  early 
writers,  in  the  days  of  some  of  the  Apostles,  and  had  his 
accounts  from  those  who  saw  and  heard  and  lived  with 
them ;  and  from  conversations  writh  those  persons  he  com- 
piled his  five  books — "An  Explication  of  the  Oracles  of 
God."  All  the  ancient  writers  concur  in  the  testimony  of 
the  excellence  of  character  of  Papias,  so  that  he  is  unques- 
tionably an  honest  witness;  but  they  also  are  agreed  that  his 
testimonials  are  to  be  received  with  caution,  because  of  his 
shallow  judgment  and  credulous  disposition.  The  facts  which 
he  testifies  are  of  two  descriptions,  respecting  which  a  pal- 
pable distinction  is  easily  made.  Some  of  them  were  of 
such  a  nature  as  required  no  effort  of  judgment:  such  as, 
knowing  where  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  Apostles 


424  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

resided  and  died.  A  simple,  honest  man  who  held  the 
station  of  bishop  soon  after  Peter's  death,  and  was  a  sed- 
ulous inquirer  into  the  facts  regarding  the  Apostles,  could 
easily  learn  this  and  could  as  easily  testify  it.  But  in 
making  inquiry  regarding  the  sayings  of  the  Apostles,  he 
might  by  reason  of  his  narrow  judgment  and  credulous  dis- 
position be  easily  misled,  as  we  find  he  was  respecting  the 
opinion  of  the  millennium,  of  which  he  was  the  author. 
Thus  Papias  is  rather  to  be  considered  a  contemporary  of 
the  Apostles,  and  fully  competent  to  testify  where  Peter 
lived  and  died,  than  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  silly  old 
man  who  is  only  a  gatherer  of  hearsays  respecting  nearly 
a  century  before.  Papias  was  a  contemporary  and  com- 
panion of  St.  Polycarp,  ftie  disciple  of  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist, and  whom  this  Apostle  constituted  Bishop  of  Smyrna, 
probably  in  the  year  96.  He  was  also  a  teacher  of  St. 
IrenaBus,  who  died  Bishop  of  Lyons,  and  who  also  derived 
much  of  his  Christian  knowledge  from  Polycarp;  Irenoeus 
was  put  to  death  in  the  year  202. 

Having  thus  seen  the  character  of  Papias  and  his  com- 
petency to  be  a  witness  of  at  least  the  fact  where  a  well 
and  publicly  known  man  who  held  a  high  place  in  the 
Christian  Church  lived  and  died,  I  come  to  examine  this 
flippant  Frenchman's  dash  respecting  the  testimony  itself. 
"  It  is  upon  the  testimony  of  Papias  that  the  Popish  tra- 
dition rests."  Why,  of  a  truth,  if  the  handing  down  of 
a  known  fact  be  tradition,  yea,  even  this  is  tradition,  for 
verily  it  handeth  down  the  testified  fact  which  was  com- 
monly and  publicly  known.  The  flimsy  cobweb  of  the 
word  tradition  will  not  hide  from  Americans  the  truth.  A 
fact  must  be  testified  by  some  writer  that  it  might  become 
a  portion  of  recorded  history ;  and  being  so  testified  and 
recorded  as  known  truth,  it  does  not  lose  its  quality  of 
truth  because  of  being  handed  down.  Thus,  suppose  AVC 
had  no  other  original  testimony  save  that  of  this  old  writer, 
still  would  it  not  be  the  less  true  because  it  had  come 
from  him  to  us.  This  is  the  way  in  which  the  Scriptures 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  425 

have  come  to  us,  by  tradition  or  delivery,  and  it  was 
naturally  impossible  that  it  could  have  been  otherwise 
received  by  us.  The  question  at  present  is  not  whether 
St.  Peter  was  there  twenty-five  years,  nor  whether  he 
founded  a  Church  there,  nor  whether  he  was  crucified  with 
his  head  downwards,  nor  whether  the  story  of  the  contest 
with  Simon  is  or  is  not  true.  Papias  might  have  been 
misled  upon  all  these  points,  and  yet  clearly  know  and 
plainly  testify  that  Peter  was  at  Home  and  died  there, 
though  he  might  err  in  all  the  other  particulars.  I  state  this 
merely  to  narrow  the  question,  not  because  I  doubt  the 
truth  of  any  of  the  statements.  The  word  tradition  then, 
if  meant  to  be  opposed  to  good  history,  is  a  gross  mis- 
representation, for  in  making  this  record  the  Bishop  of 
Hierapolis  is  a  coeval  historian,  who  receives  from  eye- 
witnesses and  ear-witnesses  the  testimony  of  the  residence 
of  Peter  and  of  his  death  at  Eome.  I  doubt  if  M. 
Blank,  of  Philadelphia,  was  ever  in  Mexico  or  saw  Itur- 
bide,  yet  he  might,  in  writing  a  history  of  American  rev- 
olutions, fairly  put  into  such  a  book  the  testimony  of  his 
being  emperor,  and  dethroned,  exiled,  having  returned,  and 
being  slain.  No  one  of  us  in  the  United  States  is  igno- 
rant of  those  facts ;  yet  how  few  of  us  are  even  now 
acquainted  with  the  true  state  of  Mexico !  Whilst,  then, 
we  give  correct  testimony  of  those  facts,  we  are  liable  to 
mistake  and  to  be  imposed  upon  by  the  accounts  of  a 
variety  of  opinions  and  conversations  of  some  of  the  Scotch 
and  Yorkist  Masons,  who  have  so  much  mysterious  cabal- 
ism  in  the  regulation  of  its  aifairs.  Thus,  respecting  the 
residence  and  death  of  the  chief  of  the  Apostles,  Papias 
is  a  good  historian,  though  he  might  have  been  deceived 
in  some  of  the  particulars. 

I  come  next  to  the  assertion  that  the  whole  tradition 
(history)  rests  upon  the  testimony  of  Papias.  Never  was 
any  assertion  more  unfounded.  We  have  a  great  variety 
of  other-  evidence  to  support  the  fact.  The  first  arrival  of 
St.  Paul  in  Rome  is  mentioned  in  Acts  xxviii,  14,  15,  16, 


426  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

and  here  it  is  distinctly  stated  that  the  brethren  (Christians) 
came  as  far  as  Appii  Forum  and  the  Three  Taverns  to 
meet  him ;  consequently  there  were  Christians  in  that  city 
before  his  arrival.  Previously  to  this,  he  had  written  his 
epistle  to  the  Romans,  where  in  chapter  i,  verses  7  and 
8,  it  is  manifest  that  Rome  was  then  a  city  which  had  a 
Christian  Church,  "  whose  faith  was  spoken  of  through  the 
whole  world."  Now  the  questions  occur:  Who  made  those 
Christians?  Who  governed  that  Church?  Certainly  not  Paul, 
who  had  not  been  there  at  that  time.  Not  only  Papias 
but  a  great  number  of  ancient  writers  inform  us  that  Peter 
was  their  Apostle.  This  was  stated  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  people  of  Rome  and  of  all  the  other  Churches  and 
not  contradicted  but  admitted  by  them  all,  and  in  the 
•earliest  ages  was  made  a  foundation  for  a  claim  on  the 
part  of  Rome  for  supremacy  over  the  other  parts  of 
the  Church.  Towards  several  portions  of  the  universal 
Church,  in  the  earliest  ages,  the  Bishops  of  Rome  used 
measures  which  appeared  harsh  and  coercive,  and  yet 
we  never  find  a  single  bishop  or  Church  in  those  early 
ages  question  the  fact  of  Peter's  residence  and  labors  in 
Rome,  though  we  find  some  of  them  displeased  with  the 
manner  in  which  the  authority  derived  from  him  was  used 
against  themselves.  They  lived  near  the  Apostolic  days, 
they  knew  the  character  of  Papias>  and  still  we  are  gravely 
told  that  this  simple  prelate  beguiled  and  misled  them  all! 
Yet  this  is  called  criticism.  I  doubt  not  but  we  could  find 
persons  who  would  call  it  philosophy !  Yes,  the  philoso- 
phy of  history !  There  are  some  people  who  seriously  give 
that  name  to  their  own  speculations  against  fact.  Monsieur 
Blanc,  however,  forgets  himself  a  little,  for  though  he  told 
us  that  it  was  upon  the  authority  of  Papias  the  Popish 
tradition  of  St.  Peter's  being  at  Rome,  etc.,  rested,  and 
gives  us  the  account  of  Papias  as  based  upon  a  hearsay 
about  eighty  years  after  the  occurrence — that  is,  in  the  year 
146,  or  thereabouts — he  informs  us  in  his  next  paragraph: 
"According  to  the  testimony  of  the  same  Eusebius,  Dio- 
nysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth,  an  author  of  the  second  century, 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  427 

affirms  also  that  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  met  at  Corinth, 
and  that  they  departed  together  for  Rome,  where  they  suf- 
fered martyrdom." 

One  passing  remark  here  might  not  be  amiss,  viz.,  this 
very  accurate  antiquarian  refers  us  to  the  25th  chapter  of 
Book  II  of  Eusebius,  as  authority  for  his  statement  that 
"St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  met  at  Corinth."  Not  one  sylla- 
ble in  support  of  such  an  assertion  is  to  be  found  in  any 
copy  of  Eusebius  which  has  fallen  under  my  eye,  nor  in 
support  of  the  other  avermeilt  that  "they  departed  together 
for  Rome."  But  the  history  of  Eusebius  does  contain  a 
passage  from  the  said  Dionysius,  stating  that  both  those 
saints  did  instruct  the  Christians  at  Corinth,  and  were 
united  in  building  or  planting  the  Church  at  Rome ;  and 
Eusebius  also  states,  that  the  same  author  testifies  their 
martyrdom  at  Rome.  Thus  we  find  the  essayist  gives  us 
another  witness  besides  Papias ;  and,  therefore,  the  Popish 
tradition,  even  according  to  himself,  does  not  rest  on  that 
prelate  alone.  This  looks  like  a  contradiction.  Dionysius 
died  in  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  of  course  before  the 
year  192,  and  at  an  advanced  age.  If  Papias  wrote  at 
Hierapolis  only  from  a  hearsay,  eighty  years  after  the 
transaction,  Dionysius  in  Corinth,  who  wrote  several  years 
before  his  death  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  which  this 
testimony  is  found,  must  in  all  likelihood  have  learned  it 
from  other  sources  besides  the  book  of  the  Bishop  of 
Hierapolis.  And  how  strangely  must  it  sound  to  the  Ro- 
mans when  the  letter  of  the  Bishop  of  Corinth  was  read 
to  them,  informing  them  of  what,  upon  the  supposition  of 
our  friend,  the  Reverend  Blanc,  they  knew  to  be  false, 
viz.,  that  St.  Peter,  who  never  was  in  their  city,  planted 
their  Church  and  was  put  to  death  in  a  place  where  he 
never  had  been !  Yet  this  Dionysius  appeared  to  know  the 
history  of  the  Roman  Church  very  well,  for  in  this  same 
epistle  to  the  Romans,  or  rather  to  Soter,  their  Bishop, 
he  writes,  in  thanking  them  for  the  alms  received  from 
Rome  for  his  Church : 


428  ST.  PETER'S  JZOJfJY  EPISCOPATE. 

"  From  the  beginning  it  is  your  custom  to  bestow  your 
alms  in  all  places,  and  to  furnish  subsistence  to  many 
Churches.  You  send  relief  to  the  needy,  especially  to  those 
who  work  in  the  mines ;  in  which  you  follow  the  example 
of  your  fathers.  Your  blessed  Bishop  Soter  is  so  far  from 
degenerating  from  your  ancestors  on  that  head,  that  he 
goes  beyond  them ;  not  to  mention  the  comfort  and  advice 
which  he,  with  the  bowels  of  a  tender  father  towards  his 
children,  affords  to  all  who  come  to  him.  On  this  day 
we  celebrated  together  the  Lord's  day,  and  read  your  letter 
as  we  do  that  which  was  heretofore  written  to  us  by 
Clement." 

It  will  be  matter  of  more  than  curiosity  to  compare  this 
with  an  early  Protestant  translation : 

"  It  hath  bene  your-  accustomed  manner,  euen  from  the 
beginning :  diuersely  to  benefit  all  the  brethren,  and  to 
send  relief  throughout  the  citie,  supplying  the  want  of  the 
poore  by  refreshing  them  in  this  sorte,  and  specially  the 
want  of  the  brethren  appointed  for  slauish  drudgerie,  and 
digging  of  metalls.  You  Romaines  of  olde  do  retaine  the 
fatherly  affection  of  Rome,  which  holy  Soter,  your  byshop, 
not  only  obserued,  but  also  augmented,  ministring  large  and 
liberall  relief  to  the  vse  of  the  sainctes :  embracing  louingly 
the  conuerted  brethren,  as  a  father  doth  his  sonnes,  with 
exhortation  of  wholesome  doctrine.  Here  also  he  remem- 
breth  the  epistle  of  Clemens  written  to  the  Corinthians, 
showing  the  same  of  auncient  custome,  to  haue  bene  read 
in  the  Church,  for  thus  he  writeth :  We  have  this  day 
solemnized  the  holy  Sunday,  in  the  which  we  haue  read 
your  epistle  and  always  will  for  instructions  sake,  even  as 
we  do  the  former  of  Clemens  written  vnto  us." 

"The  citie"  is  here  substituted  for  "many  churches;" 
any  person  can  tell  why.  The  bishop  who  wrote  thus  did 
not  need  the  hearsay  nor  the  tradition  of  Papias  to  tell 
who  was  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome.  Of  a  verity  then, 
Dionysius  copied  not  Papias,  as  of  a  truth  Monsieur  Blanc 
copied  not  either  Eusebius  or  Dionysius  where  he  affected 
to  do.  Dionysius,  however,  must  also  be  demolished. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  429 

"  But  besides  that  Dionysius  himself  complains  that  his 
letters  have  been  falsified  by  heretics,  a  circumstance  which 
considerably  invalidates  the  authority  of  his  writings,  this 
testimony  ought  not  to  outweigh  the  truth  of  our  holy 
Scriptures,  which,  with  the  divine  assistance,  we  shall  bring 
forward  below." 

Then  we  must,  it  seems,  throw  the  testimony  of  this 
writer  away,  because  he  complains  that  "  his  letters  had 
been  falsified  by  heretics."  If  the  principle  be  good,  we 
must  give  to  it  all  due  weight  and  value ;  and,  therefore, 
must  make  no  use  of  what  he  thus  states  to  have  been 
so  falsified.  Of  course,  M.  Blanc  cannot  reject  one  por- 
tion of  the  passage,  and  keep  another,  without  giving  some 
sufficient  reason  therefor.  The  following  is  the  Protestant 
translation  : 

"When  I  was  mtreated  of  the  brethren  to  write,  I 
wrote  certain  Epistles,  but  the  messengers  of  Satan  have 
sowen  them  with  tares,  pulling  away  some,  putting  to  others 
some,  whose  condemnation  is  laid  up  of  certaine.  No 
marveil  then  though  some  endeavored  to  corrupt  the  sacred 
Scriptures  of  God,  when  as  went  about  to  counterfeit  such 
writings  of  so  small  authoritie."1 

Are  we  then  to  reject  the  Scriptures?  Have  not  heretics 
endeavored  to  falsify  them?  My  answer  is  very  simple. 
Attempts  were  made  to  change  passages  in  those  epistles 
of  Dionysius  regarding  doctrine  and  opinion,  but  concerning 
a  plain  fact,  as  well  known  at  Rome,  whither  he  wrote, 
as  at  Corinth,  upon  a  subject  regarding  which  Rome  could 
not  mistake,  it  would  indeed  be  egregious  folly  to  attempt 
any  counterfeit,  for  such  counterfeit  would  be  at  once 
detected,  and  would  expose  him  who  made  it  to  condemna- 
tion and  contempt.  But  wrhat  a  case  do  our  adversaries 
make  out  for  us,  if  they  call  this  a  forgery?  It  is  equiv- 
alent to  an  avowal  that  in  the  days  of  this  bishop,  there 
was  a  body  of  men  who  falsified  his  letters  to  make  it 
appear  that  Peter  was  at  Rome,  and  that  their  system  was, 

i  Lib.  iv,  c.  23. 


430  ST.  PETERS  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

like  ours,  founded  upon  his  supremacy.  "Will  not  this 
destroy  his  assertion  that  it  was  begun  by  Papias?  See  the 
other  consequence  of  arguing  as  Monsieur  Blanc  does.  We 
destroy  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  of  God.  It  is  really 
an  avowal  of  what  I  am  convinced  is  the  fact,  that  to* 
destroy  the  foundations  of  the  Koman  Catholic  Church  you 
must  subvert  Christianity. 

But  to  return.  It  is  plain  that  the  epistle  to  Soter  and 
the  Roman  people  was  not  one  of  those  that  had  been 
falsified,  for  they  that  were  changed  by  heretics  were  his 
doctrinal  epistles,  but  this  is  one  merely  of  thanks  for 
alms.  He  then  learned,  not  from  Papias,  but  from  public 
evidence,  as  did  Papias  himself;  hence  the  French  disser- 
tation states  that  which  is  not  the  fact,  when  it  gives 
Papias  as  the  only  original  author  of  the  statement. 

I  leave  to  the  "  clerical  friend "  and  to  his  editor  to 
say  how  they  can  be  certain  that  the  copy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures which  they  possess  is  free  from  heretical  corruptions, 
if  copies  had  been  corrupted  by  heretics  so  early  as  the 
time  of  Dionysius.  For  my  part,  I  avow  I  could  have  no 
certainty  respecting  the  copy  which  I  use,  did  I  not 
acknowledge  the  infallible  authority  of  a  tribunal  which 
then  guarded  their  purity  and  continues  to  do  so  to-day, 
but  which  tribunal  is  valueless  in  the  eye  of  those  erudite 
antiquarians. 

Before  I  proceed  to  adduce  the  other  testimony,  I  desire 
to  close  my  remarks  upon  the  passages  which  I  have 
adduced  from  Monsieur  Blanc. 

"  Papias  was  copied  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Clement 
was  copied  by  Eusebius." 

The  essayist  refers  for  his  authority  in  making  these 
statements  to  Eusebius,  Hist.  Ecc.  lib.  ii,  c.  14,  15,  et.  seq. 
How  far  "ct  seq."  might  extend  I  know  not.  But  I  da 
know  that,  after  diligent  reading  of  Eusebius,  I  find  no 
authority  for  the  statement.  But  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  I 
find  the  following  passage: 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  431 

0 

"CAP.  XV. 

"The  foyle  of  Simon,  and  mention   of  the    Gospell  written   by 

St.  Marke. 

"When  the  heauenly  worde  came  thither,  immediately 
the  power  of  Simon,  together  with  him  selfe  came  to  nought, 
and  the  flame  was  quenched.  But  of  the  contrarie  such  a 
light  of  piety  shined  in  the  mindes  of  such  as  heard  Peter, 
that  they  were  not  suffized  with  once  hearing,  neither  satisfied 
with  the  unwritten  doctrine  that  was  deliuered :  but  earn- 
estly besought  Sainct  Marke  (whose  Gospell  is  now  in  use) 
that  he  would  leaue  in  writing,  vnto  them,  the  doctrine 
which  they  had  receaued  by  preaching,  neither  ceassed  they, 
vntil  they  had  perswaded  him,  and  so  geuen  an  occasion 
of  the  Gospell  to  be  written,  which  is  now  after  Marke. 
It  is  reported,  that  the  Apostle  vnderstanding  of  this  by 
inspiration  of  the  holy  spirite,  was  pleased  with  the  motion 
of  those  men,  and  commanded  this  Gospell  now  written  to 
be  read  in  the  Churches.  Clemens,  in  the  sixth  of  his 
Ilypotiposeon,  reporteth  this  story.  With  him  agreeth  Papias, 
Bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Asia,  who  sayth,  that  of  this  Marke 
mention  is  made  of  Peter,  in  his  former  Epistle,  which  he 
compiled  being  at  Rome,  and  of  him  the  citie  of  Rome 
figuratively  to  be  called  Babylon,  the  which  is  signified 
when  he  sayth :  the  Church  partaker  of  your  election,  which 
is  at  Babylon,  saluteth  you,  and  Marke  my  sonne." 

There  is  no  authority  here  for  stating  that  the  writer 
of  the  Hypotiposeon  copied  from  Papias,  and  when  Mon- 
sieur Blanc  made  the  assertion,  he  wrote  the  thing  which  is 
not.  Neither  was  Clement  the  author  of  that  book,  though 
it  bears  his  name.  Eusebius  wrote  in  the  century  succeed- 
ing that  in  which  Clement  died  and  quotes  him ;  but  I 
shall  show  a  large  body  of  intervening  testimony  in  several 
places  during  the  interval,  so  that  to  assert  as  is  here 
done  by  the  dissertator,  is  to  suggest  a  falsehood,  that 
this  was  the  only  course  of  the  testimony,  and  is  also  to 


432  ST.  PETE&S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

suppress  the  truth,  that  there  was  a  large  host  of  other 
•witnesses ;  and  besides,  the  fact  here  referred  to  is  not  the 
founding  of  the  Church  but  the  writing  of  the  Gospel  by 
St.  Mark  at  Rome,  under  the  direction  of  St.  Peter. 

III. 

I  have  shown  that  M.  Blanc's  references  to  Eusebius  are 
not  to  be  relied  upon ;  that  Papias  was  a  contemporary  of 
some  of  the  Apostles,  and  could  easily  ascertain  who  was 
the  first  Bishop  of  Rome ;  that  he  was  an  honest  witness, 
and  even  according  to  the  reverend  dissertator  was  not  the 
only  witness  who,  living  in  the  Apostolic  days,  testified 
the  fact  of  Peter's  residence  at  Rome;  for  Dionysius,  Bishop 
of  Corinth,  who  testifies  it,  was  also  a  contemporary  with 
at  least  one  of  the  Apostles. 

The  next  attempt  to  destroy  testimony  is  the  effort  to 
make  Pope  Clement  of  Rome  say  what  is  the  very  con- 
tradictory to  his  meaning. 

"  To  all  these  pretensions,  we  can  oppose,  in  the  first 
place,  the  testimony  of  Clement,  who  is  reckoned  to  have 
been  the  third  or  fourth  Bishop  of  Rome.  This  pious  and 
holy  person,  in  his  admirable  epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
expresses  himself  thus  on  the  subject  of  St.  Peter  and,  St. 
Paul:  'Through  unjust  envy,  Peter  did  not  endure  one 
or  two  but  a  very  great  number  of  trials,  and  at  last, 
having  suffered  martyrdom,  he  went  to  his  place  in  glory. 
Through  the  same  envy,  Paul  received  the  reward  of  his 
patience,  having  been  in  prison  or  in  chains  seven  times, 
beaten  twice,  stoned  once;  and  after  he  had  been  the  herald 
of  the  Word  of  God  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  he 
obtained  by  faith  an  illustrious  victory.  Having  reached 
the  extremity  of  the  West,  he  suffered  martyrdom  under 
the  emperors.  Thus  he  departed  from  this  world,  and  went 
to  a  holy  place,  leaving  us  a  singular  example  of  patience.' 
What  is  the  likelihood,  that  in  the  parallel  which  Clement 
draws  between  these  two  Apostles,  he  should  forget  to  say 
that  under  the  emperors  he  (Peter)  suffered  the  pains  of 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  433 

martyrdom  ?  "Would  he  have  neglected  a  fact,  in  this  man- 
ner, which  would  have  given  additional  weight  to  his 
epistle,  and  done  honor  to  his  See  ? " 

The  passage  of  Clement  is  to  be  explained  by  the  cir- 
cumstances under  wkich  it  was  written,  by  the  comment 
of  contemporaneous  writers  and  of  those  who  lived  soon 
after  the  period  of  its  publication.  Allow  me  first  to 
remark,  without  questioning  the  accuracy  of  the  translation, 
that  this  passage  does  not  by  any  means  deny,  even  by 
implication,  the  facts  of  Peter's  residence  and  death  at 
Home ;  so  that  in  truth  there  is  no  opposition  between 
those  two  propositions:  "Peter  suffered  martyrdom  at  Rome, 
where  he  had  resided,  under  the  emperor  Nero,"  which  is 
our  assertion,  and  this  other :  "  Peter  having  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom, he  went  to  the  place  of  his  glory,"  which  is 
Clement's  assertion.  The  clause  under  the  emperors  can 
without  any  impropriety  be  referred  to  both  Saints ;  for  in 
truth  they  both  suffered  in  the  same  place.  As  to  the 
apparent  neglect  of  Clement,  the  answer  is  very  simple:  The 
fact  of  Peter's  having  suffered  at  Rome  was  so  well  known 
that  it  was  as  unnecessary  to  mention  it  at  that  period 
to  Christians  as  it  would  this  day  be  unnecessary  to  inform 
a  Frenchman  that  Louis  XVI  was  beheaded  in  Paris. 

The  occasion  of  the  letter  was  a  schism  at  Corinth,  in 
or  about  the  year  96.  This  letter  is  one  of  which  Dio- 
nysius,  Bishop  of  that  See,  makes  mention  in  the  next  cen- 
tury as  having  been  still  read  in  his  Church,  and  we 
have  seen  that  this  prelate  informs  us  what  meaning  the 
passage  bore  in  the  assembly  to  which  it  was  addressed 
and  by  which  it  was  preserved,  viz.,  that  both  the  Apos- 
tles, Peter  and  Paul,  suffered  martyrdom  in  Rome.  This 
Clement  was  mentioned  by  St.  Paul.1  His  epistle  was 
read  in  several  of  the  early  Churches,  and  was  held  in 
such  esteem  as  to  be  contained  in  a  very  ancient  Alexan- 
drian manuscript  copy  of  the  Bible,  sent  by  Cyril  Lucar  to 
James  I,  of  England.  It  was  carried  from  Rome  to  Corinth 

28  i  Phil.  iv.  3. 


434  STm  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

by  Fortunatus,  of  whom  St.  Paul  makes  mention,1  accom- 
panied by  four  messengers  from  Rome,  whom  Clement 
requested  the  Corinthians  speedily  to  send  back  to  him 
with  good  tidings.  In  all  the  Churches  in  which  it  was 
read,  the  belief  existed  that  the  martyrdom  of  both  the 
Apostles  occurred  in  Rome.  Eusebius2  states : 

"CAP.     XIII. 

"  Of  Clemens,   his   Bishopricke,    his  testimony,   his  Epistle* 

"In  the  twelfe  yeare  of  the  raygne  of  Domitian,  when 
as  Anaddus  had  bene  Bishop  of  Rome  twelue  years : 
Clemens  succeeded,  whome  S.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Philipi- 
ans,  calleth  his  felow  laborer,  when  he  sayth :  with 
Clemens,  and  the  rest  of  my  felow  laborers,  whose 
names  are  written  in  the  booke  of  life,  one  undoubted 
epistle  ther  is  of  his,  extant,  both  worthy  and  notable,  the 
which  he  wrote  from  Rome  unto  Corinthe,  when  sedition 
was  raysed  among  the  Corinthians :  the  same  Epistle  we 
haue  knowne  to  haue  bene  reade  openly,  and  publikely,  in, 
many  churches,  both  of  old,  and  amongest  us  also.  That 
at  that  tyme  ther  was  raysed  a  sedition  amongst  the 
Corinthians,  JEgcsippus  is  a  witness  of  creditt." 

And  this  author  distinctly  testifies  the  martyrdom  to 
have  taken  place  in  Rome,3  upon  the  authority,  amongst 
others,  of  Origen.  It  would  be  altogether  too  tedious  to  • 
enumerate  the  others  who,  in  the  first  three  centuries,  testify 
this  to  have  been  the  sense  of  the  passage  which  Mr.  Blanc, 
by  a  new  species  of  false  logic,  converts  into  a  contradiction, 
St.  Jerome,  Photius,  and  others  of  highest  authority  for 
erudition  and  research,  give  this  as  its  meaning.  Amongst 
the  Protestants,  Dodwell,  Bishop  Pearson,  Cave,  Archbishop 
Wake,  Grabe,  and  others,  follow  those  ancient  and  vener- 
able witnesses.  Thus,  the  passage  in  Clement's  epistle  is 

il  Cor.  xvl,  17.  « Lib.  iii,  c.  14.  »Lib.  c.  ill,  1. 


ST.  PETERS  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  435 

one  which  bears  testimony  for  us  and  not  against  us. 
Eusebius,  when  lie  wrote,  had  this  document,  as  well  as 
several  others,  before  him,  all  tending  to  uphold  our  posi- 
tion ;  and  yet  M.  Blanc  has  the  modesty  to  state  that  this 
historian  only  copied  Clement  of  Alexandria  who  copied 
Papias,  who  made  his  statement  upon  a  hearsay  eighty 
years  after  the  alleged  occurrence !  What  says  Eusebius 
himself? 

"CAP.     I. 

"  In   what   countreyes   the   Apostles  preached   Christ. 

"When  as  the  Jewish  affrayres  stood  as  before  is  declared, 
the  Holy  Apostles  and  Disciples  of  our  Saviour  were 
dispersed  troughout  the  world.  Thomas  (as  by  tradition 
we  receaue)  chose  Parthia :  Andrew,  Scythia ;  John,  Asia : 
where  he  made  his  abode,  and  died  at  Ephesus.  Peter  is 
reported  to  haue  preached  to  the  dispersed  lewes  through- 
out Pontus,  Gallachia,  Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  and  Asia,  who 
about  this  latter  time,  tarrying  at  Rome,  was  crucified  with 
his  head  downwards,  which  kind  of  death  he  him  selfe 
desired.  What  shall  I  say  of  Panic,  which  from  Jerusalem 
to  Illyricum,  filled  all  places  with  the  Gospel  of  Christ; 
and  at  the  last  suffred  martyrdome  at  Home  under  Nero? 
These  thinges  are  manifestly  and  word  by  word  declared  by 
Orifjen,  in  the  third  tome  of  his  commentaries  upon  Genesis." 

"CAP.    II. 

"  Who  was  the  first  Bishop   of  Rome. 

"  Linus  first,  after  the  martyrdome  of  Peter  and  Paule, 
was  chosen  Bishop  of  Rome,  Paule  about  the  latter  end  in 
the  salutation  of  the  epistle  which  he  wrote  vnto  Timothe, 
from  Rome,  maketh  mention  of  him,  saying:  Eubulus  saluteth 
thee,  and  Pudens,  and  Linus,  and  Claudia" 

This  is  a  very  extraordinary  mode  of  upholding  the  asser- 
tion, that  Eusebius  copied  Clement  of  Alexandria.  One 
may  easily  observe,  then,  the  little  value  of  this  writer's 
statements. 


436  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

Ignatius  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  as 
also  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  with  whom  he  was  extremely 
intimate,  and  was  second  Bishop  after  Peter  of  the  Church 
of  Antioch.  Evodius,  who,  in  the  year  43,  succeeded  Peter, 
was  succeeded  by  this  Ignatius.  St.  John  Chrysostom1  and 
Theodoret2  inform  us  that  the  appointment  of  Ignatius 
was  made  by  St.  Peter,  and  that  he  was  consecrated  by 
him  and  St.  Paul.  He  governed  the  See  of  Antioch  during 
upwards  of  forty  years,  and  suffered  martyrdom  in  Rome 
on  the  20th  of  December,  107.  In  his  epistle  to  the 
Romans,  after  he  had  been  sentenced  in  Antioch  to  be 
carried  to  Rome  and  delivered  to  be  devoured  by  beasts  at 
the  public  games,  he  alludes,  in  the  following  passage,  to 
the  authority  which  Peter  and  Paul,  who  had  so  long 
been  the  special  rulers  of  their  Church,  had  over  them : 
"  Pray  to  Christ  for  me,  that  in  this  I  may  become  a 
sacrifice  to  God.  I  do  not  as  Peter  and  Paul  command 
you ;  they  were  Apostles,  I  am  an  inconsiderable  person." 
The  whole  body  of  ancient  writers  inform  us  that  this  was 
an  allusion  to  the  command  given  by  those  Apostles 
to  the  Christians  at  Rome,  not  to  interfere,  by  exer- 
tion, or  entreaty,  or  prayer,  to  prevent  their  being  sac- 
rificed. Eusebius,  when  he  wrote,  had  this  document  also.3 
He  mentioned  the  five  books  of  Church  history  compiled 
by  Hegesippus,  who  came  to  Rome  in  the  Pontificate  of 
Anicetus,  about  the  year  1GO,  and  remained  there  until  177, 
when  he  returned  to  the  East,  and  died  probably  at  Jeru- 
salem, in  the  year  180,  at  a  very  advanced  age.4  Eusebius 
.states  he  copied  very  much  from  him ;  and  it  is  in  his 
work  the  principal  written  testimony  is  first  found  as  to 
the  request  of  Peter  that  he  might  be  crucified  with  his 
head  downwards.  In  book  iii,  chap;  2,  of  Hegesippus,  the 
relation  was  given.  Thus,  in  Rome  itself,  and  from  the 
persons  of  all  others  best  qualified  to  give  the  account, 
this  author  wrote  his  statement  which  Eusebius  saw;  and 
yet  Monsieur  Blanc  gravely  informs  us,  that  he  only  copied 

'Horn,  on  8.  Jgnat.  ial,  I,  p.  23.       a  Lib.  ill,  c    30.       *  Lib.  iv,  c.  21,  23. 


S2\  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  437 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  copied  Papias,  who  built  his 
tradition  on  a  hearsay  about  eighty  years  after  the  occur- 
rence, and  in  Hierapolis !  Of  a  truth  this  is  a  most  his- 
torical critic. 

About  fifty  years  after  the  time  of  Dionysius  of  Corinth, 
Caius  wrote,  of  whom  Eusebius  gives  us  the  following 
account  and  testimony  i1 

"  This  enemy  of  God  (Nero)  (wherein  he  was  first  espied) 
set  vp  him  selfe  to  the  destruction  of  the  Apostles,  for 
they  write  that  Paule  was  beheaded  and  Peter  crucified  of 
him  at  Rome,  and  that  maketh  for  the  credit  of  our  his- 
tory which  is  commonly  reported,  that  there  be  churchyards 
vnto  this  day  bearing  the  name  of  Peter  and  Pauk.  In 
like  manerr  Gaius,  a  Romane,  and  an  Ecclesiasticall  per- 
son, and  (after  Zcphcrinus),  Bishop  of  Rome,  writing  unto 
Proclus,  captainc,  of  the  heresie  which  the  Cataphyrgsens 
held,  speaketh  thus  of  the  tombes  wherein  the  Apostles 
Avere  layd.  I  (sayeth  he)  am  able  to  shewe  the  banners 
of  the  Apostles.  For  if  thou  wilt  walke  vnto  Yaticanum, 
or  the  waye  Ostienses,  thou  shalt  finde  there  victorious 
banners,  of  such  as  haue  builded  this  Church.  And  that 
they  were  both  crowned  with  martirdome  at  the  same  time, 
Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth,  afifirmeth  in  his  epistle  vnto 
the  Romanes." 

This    passage    is    more    correctly   translated   thus : 

"  Therefore,  when  he  (Nero),  professed  himself  the  open 
enemy  of  the  divinity  and  piety,  sought  first  the  death  of 
the  very  Apostles,  as  being  the  leaders  and  standard-bearers 
amongst  the  people  of  God ;  and  condemned  Paul  to  lose 
his  head  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and  Peter  to  the  punish- 
ment of  the  cross.  I  think  it  useless  to  search  extrinsic 
evidence  of  those  things,  since  their  most  splendid  monu- 
ments testify  to  the  fact  to-day." 

Yet  M.  Blanc  tells  us  that  he  only  copied  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  who  copied  Papias ! 

St.  Irenseus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  was  born  about  the  year 
120,  in  Asia  Minor,  and  was  a  disciple  of  the  famous 

>Lib.  ii,  c.  25. 


438  ST.  PETERS  ROMAX  EPISCOPATE. 

St.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  the  pupil  of  St.  Jonn  tne 
Evangelist.  Polycarp  was  the  angel  of  the  Church  of 
Smyrna,1  so  commended  by.  "  the  Son  of  Man."  He  vis- 
ited Pope  Anicetus,  in  Rome,  about  the  year  158,  and  cer- 
tainly was  well  aware  of  who  was  first  Bishop  of  that  See. 
He  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  year  166,  when,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  testimony,  he  had  served  Christ  eighty-six 
years,  and  was  at  least  one  hundred  years .  old.  Basnage, 
a  learned  Protestant  writer,  thinks  he  was  an  hundred  and 
twenty  years  old,  which  would  have  made  him  a  contem- 
porary of  St.  Peter.  From  him  and  other  eminent  prelates 
Irenseus  learned  the  facts  and  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
Tertullian2  calls  Irenseus  "  the  most  diligent  searcher  of  all 
doctrines."  St.  Epiphanius  calls  him  a  most  learned  and 
eloquent  man,  endowed  with  all  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Theodoret  styles  him,  "the  light  of  the  Western 
Gauls."  The  commerce  between  Marseilles  and  Smyrna 
was  extensive  in  the  second  century,  and  Irenseus  was 
advised  by  Polycarp  to  proceed  to  Gaul,  where  many 
Christians  were  extending  their  faith.  He  was  ordained 
priest  by  Pothinus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  and  in  177  was  sent 
to  Rome  on  business,  from  the  Church  of  Lyons  to  Pope 
Eleutherius ;  thus  in  the  city  itself  he  had  the  full  oppor- 
tunity of  investigating  the  history  of  its  bishops.  The 
Bishop  of  Lyons  having  been  martyred  during  the  absence 
of  Irenscus,  he  was  selected  upon  his  return  to  govern 
that  See ;  and  was  slain  with  a  vast  number  of  his  flock, 
in  the  fifth  persecution  under  Servius,  about  the  year  202. 
This  writer3  states  that  the  Apostles  left  their  doctrine  and 
the  truth  of  all  the  mysteries  of  faith  to  their  successors 
the  pastors,  and  that  it  is  fit  we  should  have  recourse  to 
them  to  learn ;  especially  "  to  the  greatest  Church,  the 
most  ancient  and  known  to  all,  founded  at  Rome  by  the 
two  most  glorious  Apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  which  retains 
the  tradition  it  received  from  them,  and  which  it  derived 

i  Rev.  11,  8,  9.  « Lib.  contra  Valcnt.  c.  6.  *  Lib.  Ill,  c.  S. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  439 

through  a  succession  of  bishops  down  to  us.  Showing 
which,  we  confound  all  who,  any  way  out  of  self-conceit, 
love  of  applause,  blindness,  or  false  persuasions,  embrace 
what  ought  not  to  be  advanced;  for  to  this  Church,  because 
of  its  better  presidency,  it  is  necessary  that  every  Church 
— that  is,  the  faithful  everywhere — should  address  them- 
selves ;  in  which  Church  the  tradition  from  the  Apostles 
is  altogether  preserved."  He  then  stated  that  SS.  Peter 
and  Paul  chose  Linus  to  succeed  at  their  death ;  and  he 
enumerates  Anacletus,  Clement,  Evaristus,  Alexander,  Sixtus, 
Telesphorus,  Hyginus,  Pius,  Anicetus,  Soter,  and  Eleuthe- 
rius,  the  twelve  of  the  Apostles.  This  list  is  also  found 
in  Eusebius,1  copied,  as  he  alleges,  from  Irenseus.  Thus 
one  observes  how  extremely  incorrect  is  the  assertion  of 
the  Reverend  M.  Blanc  as  to  the  authority  upon  which 
this  historian  bases  his  statements. 

Eusebius  states,2  from  ancient  accounts  whose  truth  he 
considers  to  be  extremely  probable,  that  Philo,  the  Jew, 
who  came  from  Egypt  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Claudius,  met  and  conferred  at  Rome  with 
St.  Peter,  who  then  preached  to  the  Romans.  This  was  in 
the  year  43  of  the  common  era. 

Arnobius,  the  famous  Numidian  rhetorician,  who  was 
converted  to  Christianity  in  or  about  the  year  302,  men- 
tions the  extensive  progress  of  religion  in  Rome  to  have 
been  in  a  great  measure  caused  by  the  exposure  and  defeat 
of  Simon  Magus,  by  St.  Peter,  in  that  city.8 

Tertullian,  born  at  Carthage  about  the  year  160,  son 
of  a  centurion,  a  man  of  most  comprehensive  genius,  exten- 
sive erudition,  and  deep  research,  profoundly  versed  in  the 
Roman  laws  and  the  principles  of  evidence,  in  his  book 
"On  Prescriptions,"  states  that  Peter  was  crucified  at  Rome, 
and  says  that  Clement  was  one  of  his  successors  in  that 
See.  He  has  in  his  book  of  Prescriptions  the  following 
passage : 

iLib.  v,  c.  6.  "Lib,  ii,  c.  xvi.  »Lib.  contra  Gent. 


440  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

"  If  you  are  near  Italy,  you  have  Borne ;  whence,  too, 
we  have  authority  convenient.  Happy  Church  for  which 
the  Apostles  poured  out  their  entire  doctrine,  together  with 
their  blood — where  Peter  is  assimilated  to  his  suffering 
Lord,  and  Paul  is  crowned  in  a  death  like  John's." 

St.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  was  s'on  of  one  of  the 
principal  senators  of  that  city,  and  only  at  an  advanced 
period  of  life  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  His  education 
was  one  of  the  first  order  and  his  talents  excellent;  his 
intercourse  writh  the  Church  of  Rome  was  very  consider- 
able, after  he  had  been  elevated  to  the  see  of  his  native 
city ;  nor  wras  it  all  of  the  most  forbearing  and  obsequi- 
ous character.  In  a  variety  of  places  he  styles  Rome 
"the  See  of  Peter,"  "the  Chair  of  Peter,"  "the  principal 
Church  whence  the  princely  unity  hath  arisen."  In  his 
book  iv,  Epistle  2,  to  Antonianus  we  read :  "  Cornelius 
was  made  Bishop,  when  the  place  of  Fabian,  that  is  the 
place  of  Peter,  and  the  degree  of  the  sacerdotal  chair,  was 
vacant."  This  prelate  was  put  to  death  in  the  year  258. 

Lactantius,  a  disciple  of  Arnobius,  at  Sicca,  in  Africa, 
was  converted  from  Paganism  to  Christianity  at  Nicomedia, 
about  the  year  290.  About  the  year  317  he  became  pre- 
ceptor to  Crispus  Caesar,  in  Gaul,  by  the  appointment  of 
Constantine.  One  of  his  greatest  works  is  that  "  Of  Divine 
Institutions,"  published  first  in  320.  I  select  the  follow- 
ing passages : 

"Christ  at  the  time  of  His  departure  manifested  to  His 
disciples  the  things  that  were  to  happen,  which  Peter  and 
Paul  preached  at  Rome." 

"After  Nero  had  slain  them  (Peter  and  Paul),  Vespa- 
sian extinguished  the  name  and  nation  of  the  Jews,  and 
did  all  those  things  which  they  foretold  were  to  take 
place."1 

St.  Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  was  born  about  the 
year  296,  and  amongst  other  passages  of  his  writings  is 
the  following,  taken  from  his  letter  to  the  Hermits : 

i  Mb.  iv.  c.  21. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  441 

"At  first  they  did  not  spare  even  Liberius,  Bishop  of 
Rome ;  not  being  moved  by  any  reverence,  for  that  his 
See  was  Apostolic." 

In   the    same   lie   introduces    Liberius    declaring : 

"  Never  has  such  been  handed  down  to  us  by  the 
Fathers,  who  have  received  their  tradition  from  the  blessed 
and  great  Peter." 

Origen,  the  fellow  student  of  Plotinus  and  Longinus, 
the  disciple  of  Ammonius  Saccas,  was  certainly  no  mere 
copyist  without  cause.  This  great  master  of  the  Catechet- 
ical school  of  Alexandria  was  born  in  the  year  184 ;  about 
the  year  212  he  went  to  Rome,  in  the  Pontificate  of 
Zepherinus,  and  was  unquestionably  well  qualified  to  ascer- 
tain its  ecclesiastical  history.  It  is  upon  his  authority  also 
that  Eusebius  relates  the  manner  in  which  St.  Peter  was 
crucified  with  his  head  downwards,  at  his  own  request: 

"And  Peter  having  waited  at  Rome  to  the  last,  was 
crucified  there,  his  head  being  downwards,  which  was  so 
besought  by  himself,  lest  he  should  appear  to  be  equalled 
to  his  Lord."1 

I  suspect  it  required  no  special  indulgence  from  ISTero 
to  leave  the  executioner  the  power  of  agreeing  to  the 
request  of  one  to  suffer,  so  far  as  regarded  the  position  of 
his  body.  It  is  a  miserable  sneer  of  sophistry  to  insinu- 
ate that  such  an  acquiescence  on  the  part  of  the  execu- 
tioner was  equivalent  to  "  allowing  Christians  the  care  of 
settling  their  own  forms  of  punishment." 

All  these  and  a  great  many  more  who  bear  similar 
testimony  lived  before  or  together  with  Eusebius,  the  his- 
torian, who  was  born  in  the  year  270.  Their  works  and 
those  of  several  others  were  in  his  hands.  How  absurd 
then  is  the  statement  that  he  was  the  mere  copyist  of  a 
copyist  of  hearsay? 

I  come  now  to  exhibit  the  effort  which  the  essayist 
makes  to  destroy  the  entire  value  of  all  the  witnesses. 

iLib.  iii,  in  Genes. 


442  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

He  had  previously  made  his  assaults  upon  Papias,  Diony- 
sius  of  Corinth,  and  Eusebius.  But  this  he  feels  will  not 
serve  his  purpose,  and  he,  as  if  in  a  mere  transient  man- 
ner, as  a  matter  too  plain  to  be  questioned,  too  palpable 
to  require  proof,  states  that  not  a  single  passage  from  any 
of  the  ancient  writers  is  of  any  avail  when  adduced  by 
a  Roman  Catholic,  but  if  it  be  adduced  by  a  Protestant 
it  is  conclusive.  You  will  probably  think  this  a  very 
-extraordinary  position.  But  do  not  pass  a  hasty  judgment. 

"  Let  us  also  make,  in  passing,  the  remark,  that  when 
the  Fathers  are  produced  against  us  in  order  to  support 
•dogmas  or  facts,  which  our  opponent  feels  himself  inter- 
ested in  maintaining,  we  ought  to  be  the  more  upon  our 
guard,  because  the  Council  of  Trent  has  decided  that  the 
books  of  the  ancient  Fathers  ought  to  be  purged,  (expur- 
cjati) ;  a  circumstance  that,  consequently,  should  make  us 
very  circumspect  in  the  admission  of  passages  which  they 
-cite  against  us ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  passages  of 
these  Fathers  which  we  allege,  remain  in  all  their  force, 
since  W7e  possess  the  books  of  the  ancients  only  from  the 
hands  of  our  adversaries." 

Now  suppose  the  Council  of  Trent  made  such  a  deci- 
sion, and  that  it  was  carried  into  execution ;  all  that 
-could  follow  would  be,  that  after  the  close  of  that  council 
the  works  would  have  been  garbled;  that  is,  passages 
would  have  been  omitted.  But  my  argument  rests  upon 
the  passages  which  have  been  retained,  and  unless  the  wit- 
nesses contradict  themselves,  none  of  the  expugned  passages 
could  have  asserted  what  contradicts  those  retained.  Hence, 
«ven  were  I  to  admit  the  truth  of  this  statement,  his  con- 
clusion would  be  unsupported. 

Again :  The  Council  of  Trent  did  not  close  its  session 
until  the  year  1563,  at  which  period  a  large  portion  of 
Europe  and  several  of  its  universities  were  Protestant,  and  a 
great  number  of  ancient  copies  of  the  works  of  the  Fathers 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  Protestants,  as  well  as  in  the 
libraries  of  those  universities  and  cathedrals,  as  in  those 


ST.  PETER- S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  443 

of  the  monasteries,  colleges  and  schools,  which  they 
seized  on,  and  in  the  hands  of  many  private  individuals. 
The  council  could  not  purge  all  those  copies  of  the  obnox- 
ious passages  which  they  contained ;  why  not  adduce  those 
passages  and  thus  convict  the  Catholics  of  this  alleged 
garbling?  Those  works  and  printed  copies  of  them  are  at 
this  day  in  the  hands  of  Protestants,  and  they  have  been  so 
during  the  existence  of  the  Protestant  Churches;  when  such 
is  the  case,  what  use  would  be  the  purging  of  the  copies 
held  by  the  Catholics? 

Monsieur  Blanc  perhaps  thinks  that  using  the  Latin 
word  expurgati  will  be  sufficient  proof  that  the  council 
made  such  a  decree.  It  is  painful  but  it  is  necessory  to 
inform  you  that  the  council  made  no  such  decree  or  de- 
cision. AVriters  like  M.  Blanc  and  the  "  clerical  brother " 
and  the  editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate  are  too  fond  of 
using  this  mode  of  attack  upon  us.  It  would  have  been 
as  easy  and  more  satisfactory  to  have  referred  to  the  ses- 
sion when  the  decree  was  made,  to  the  page  of  the  work 
in  which  it  might  be  found,  or  to  the  head  under  which 
it  was  classed,  as  to  write  the  Latin  word  expurgati. 

Thus  it  is  very  plain  that  in  three  paragraphs  of  this 
dissertation  wre  have  a  very  large  number  of  glaring  mis- 
statements,  as  well  as  the  manifestation  of  a  desire  to  de- 
stroy the  credit  of  all  the  ancient  witnesses  and  documents 
of  Church  history,  merely  because  they  manifestly  prove 
the  truth  of  a  fact  which  our  "  clerical  brother "  hates  to 
admit.  It  is  a  little  extraordinary  that  men  who  belong 
to  a  Christian  society  should  be  so  anxious  to  extinguish 
all  the  ancient  lights  of  the  Church,  and  to  create  a  chaos 
or  to  leave  a  blank  between  the  period  at  which  St.  Luke 
concludes  his  account  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the 
present  day ;  or  a  comparatively  recent  period. 

Having  thus  shown  the  disingenuity,  the  sophistry,  and 
want  of  honesty  of  M.  Blanc,  in  his  first  assertions,  I 
shall  proceed  to  examine  another  very  flippant  expression 
of  his  essay : 


444  ST.  PETER '  S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

"  Clement  was  copied  by  Eusebius,  and  the  latter  has 
been  copied  by  many  authors,  ancient  and  modern,  who 
"have  been,  perhaps,  too  much  interested  to  render  credible 
a  fact  which  will  always  be  of  very  little  importance  to 
those  who  build  their  faith,  not  on  the  person  of  Peter, 
but  upon  the  corner-stone,  Jesus  Christ." 

In  the  first  place  I  would  remark  that  I  know  of  no 
persons  who  build  their  faith  upon  the  person  of  St. 
Peter.  If  it  be  meant  to  insinuate  that  Roman  Catholics 
do,  the  insinuation  is  untrue.  When  Christ  changed  the 
name  of  Simon  to  Peter,  or  rock,  He  declared  that  upon 
that  rock  He  would  build  His  church,  and  that  the  gates 
of  hell  should  not  prevail  against  it.1  Roman  Catholics- 
believe  that  our  blessed  Lord  did  build  His  Church  upon 
that  Peter  or  rock,  by  making  Peter  its  first  chief  pastor 
after  His  own  ascension ;  but  he  never  desired  the  people 
to  build  their  faith  or  belief  upon  that  rock,  but  upon 
Jesus  Christ  Himself.  When  a  Roman  Catholic  makes  an 
act  of  faith,  he  declares  that  he  believes  the  articles  of 
his  religion  because  God  has  revealed  them ;  and  thus  the 
truth  of  God  is  the  foundation  of  his  faith.  Christ  then 
built  the  Church  upon  St.  Peter,  but  Roman  Catholics 
build  their  faith  upon  the  Saviour  Himself. 

Eusebius  principally  used  the  compilation  of  Julianas 
Africanus,  and  the  history  of  the  Church  written  by  St. 
Hegesippus,  the  former  in  his  chronicle,  the  latter,  so  far 
as  it  came,  viz.,  to  the  year  170,  in  his  history;  but  he 
had  also  in  his  possession  the  writings  of  the  various 
authors  above  quoted,  most  of  which  he  cites  himself.  I 
would  then  ask  what  is  to  be  thought  of  a  man  who,  like 
this  Monsieur  Blanc,  boldly  makes  a  grossly  untrue  asser- 
tion—  viz.,  that  Eusebius  only  copied  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, on  this  subject,  Clement  having  only  copied  Papias, 
and  Papias  only  writing  upon  a  hearsay  about  eighty  years 
after  the  death  of  Peter?  Will  not  all  conclude  with  me, 

'  Matt,  xvi,  18. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  445 

even    before     examining     the     subsequent    writers,     that    this 

Frenchman    was    either    very    ignorant    or I    shall   not 

write  the  alternative?  I  do  not  like  to  call  men  who 
differ  from  me  beasts,  idolaters,  unhallowed  usurpers,  de- 
luders,  babblers,  unblushing  liars,  and  such  other  names.  I 
am  not  sufficiently  polished  for  this;  I  am  a  plain  repub- 
lican ;  I  do  not  like  to  call  nick-names,  though  I 
might  see  that  a  man  writes  what  he  ought  not.  The 
history  of  Eusebius  was  brought  down  to  the  epoch  of 
the  defeat  of  Licinius,  in  323 ;  all  the  authorities  which  I 
have  quoted,  hitherto,  were  anterior  to  this  event. 

IY. 

The  essayist  concedes-  to  us,  from  that  period  forward, 
the  host  of  writers  who  admit  the  truth  of  the  fact. 
However,  this  concession  is  made  with  a  very  bad  grace, 
for,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  asserted  that  in  obedience  to 
a  decision  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  their  works  have  been 
garbled,  and  in  the  next  place,  that  the  ancient  and 
modern  authors  who  have  copied  from  Eusebius  were  gen- 
erally too  much  interested  to  render  the  fact  credible.  I 
have  already  disposed  of  this  first  statement. 

I  shall  here  make  what  appears  to  me  a  very  natural 
observation.  It  is  conceded  by  the  essayist  that  at  the 
early  period  of  the  fourth  century  it  was  publicly  stated 
that  St.  Peter  suffered  martyrdom  in  Rome.  He  would 
not,  I  presume,  deny  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome  did  at 
that  period  claim  a  supremacy  in  the  Church,  because  of 
their  being  the  successors  in  his  See.  He  would  not,  I 
suppose,  deny  that  then,  and  for  many  years  after,  several 
bishops  and  their  flocks  not  only  submitted  to  that  claim, 
but  strenuously  supported  it.  Consequently,  is  it  not  pass- 
ing strange,  that  from  the  mass  of  ancient  authors  he 
cannot  cite  one  passage  to  question  the  truth  of  what  all 
the  ancient  writers  assert?  Surely  the  Council  of  Trent, 
which  was  opened  in  1545,  could  not  have  purged  the 


446  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

Fathers  before  the  time  of  Arius  in  320,  of  Macedonius 
in  360,  of  Nestorius  in  430,  of  Eutyches  in  450,  of 
Heraclius  in  640,  of  Constans  in  668,  of  Leo  the  Isaurian 
in  740,  or  of  Photius  in  880.  All  those  men  and  their 
followers  and  adherents  opposed  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  and 
were  condemned  by  those  prelates.  Yet  not  one  syllable 
do  they  urge  in  denial  of  the  martyrdom  of  Peter  at 
Rome ;  not  one  of  them  attempts  to  deny  the  notorious 
fact  that  the  Bishops  of  that  See  were,  in  their  episcopacy 
thereof,  the  successors  of  that  Apostle.  I  presume  we  shall 
not  be  told  that  those  opponents  were  interested  in  making 
it  credible. 

Shall  we  be  told  that  the  prelates,  the  divines,  and  the 
critics  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  England  are  interested 
in  rendering  it  credible?  No  nation,  no  Church,  can  boast 
of  brighter  genius,  more  varied  talent,  deeper  erudition, 
and  more  general  scholarship,  than  is  to  be  found  in  the 
ratio  of  their  numbers  in  that  national  Church.  It  is  true 
that  in  the  fury  of  their  early  efforts  against  Popery,  as 
was  the  phrase  of  the  day,  neither  John  Knox  in  Scot- 
land nor  the  Mussulman  in  the  East  made  a  more  holy 
havoc  of  the  documents  of  ancient  days.  As  the  Bible 
with  the  one  and  the  Koran  with  the  other  Avere  the  only 
books  which  contained  true  knowledge,  and  were  worthy  of 
the  believer's  attention,  so  after  being  stripped  of  the 
mammon  of  iniquity  with  which  their  covers  and  cases 
were  enriched,  whole  hecatombs  of  ungodly  parchments  were 
offered  as  holocausts  to  the  spirit  of  innovation.  Yet  still, 
as  the  "monkish"  collection  was  immense,  and  the  zeal  of 
the  ravagers  was  after  a  time  restrainei,  the  learned  men, 
who  subsequently  arose  in  the  English  Church,  had  ample 
opportunities  for  indulging  their  critical  and  antiquarian 
research.  To  the  testimony  of  Archbishop  AVake,  Bishop 
Pearson,  Dodwell,  Cave,  and  a  host  of  this  description,  I 
would  merely  add  the  following  remark  of  the  acute 
Winston  : 

"  Mr.    Bower,    with    some    weak    Protestants    before    him, 
almost     pretended     to     deny    that     St.     Peter    was    ever    in 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  447 

Rome;  concerning  which  matter  take  my  own  former  words 
out  of  my  three  Tracts,  p.  53.  Mr.  Baratier  proves  most 
thoroughly,  as  Bishop  Pearson  lias  done  before  him,  that 
St.  Peter  was  at  Rome.  This  is  so  clear  in  Christian 
antiquity,  that  it  is  a  shame  for  any  Protestant  to  con- 
fess that  any  Protestant  ever  denied  it.  This  partial  pro- 
cedure demonstrates  that  Mr.  Bower  has  by  no  means  got 
clear  of  the  prejudices  of  some  Protestants,  as  an  impar- 
tial writer  of  history,  which  he  strongly  pretends  to  be, 
ought  to  do,  and  has  in  this  case  greatly  hurt  the  Pro- 
testant cause  instead  of  helping  it."  x 

Baratier  was  an  eminent  Protestant  divine,  whose  dis- 
sertation was  printed  at  Utrecht  in  1740.  It  is  entitled 
"A  Chronological  Inquiry  about  the  most  ancient  Bishops 
of  Rome,  from  Peter  to  Victor."  In  it  he  demonstrates 
the  fact  which  had  been  so  ably  exhibited  in  the  learned 
dissertation  of  Bishop  Pearson. 

Will  it  be  pretended  then  that  English,  French  and 
German  Protestant  divines  are  interested  in  rendering  this 
fact  credible?  The  Rev.  M.  Blanc  is  not  more  opposed 
to  the  See  of  Rome  than  they  were ;  the  Christian  Advo- 
cate is  not  more  inimical  to  what  he  and  they  call  Popery 
than  were  those  writers.  But  they  were  men  who  had 
read  extensively  and  searched  deeply  upon  the  subject. 

I  shall  now  adduce  the  testimony  of  men  whom  the 
essayist  would,  perhaps,  with  some  show  of  ground,  assert 
were  interested,  because  they  were  Roman  Catholics.  Are 
we  then  to  reject  the  evidence  furnished  by  the  best  wit- 
nesses of  the  brightest  days  of  Christianity  merely  because 
it  will  lead  to  a  conclusion  at  which  some  gentlemen  do 
not  choose  to  arrive? 

St.  Epiphanius  was  born  at  Eleutheropolis,  in  Palestine, 
in  the  year  310.  In  his  youth  he  closely  studied  the 
Hebrew,  the  Egyptian,  the  Syriac,  the  Greek,  and  the 
Latin  languages,  for  the  purpose  of  being  better  able  to 

>Mem.  of  his  own  life,  p.  599. 


448  sr.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

study  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  retired  into  a  monastery  in 
the  desert  of  Egypt,  whence  he  returned  to  Palestine  in 
333,  and  built  a  monastery  near  the  place  of  his  birth, 
in  which  his  time  was  divided  between  labor,  study  and 
prayer.  About  the  year  367  he  was  chosen  Bishop  of 
Constantia,  now  Salamis,  in  the  island  of  Cyprus.  In  382 
he  accompanied  St.  Paulinus  of  Nola  to  Home,  during  the 
pontificate  of  Damasus.  Scarcely  a  book  of  note  was  to 
be  found  which  he  had  not  studied,  and  he  had  improved 
his  reading  by  travel  and  observation.  His  death  occurred 
in  403.  In  his  account  of  the  twenty-seventh  heresy,  which 
is  that  of  Carpocrates,  he  distinctly  states :  "  Peter  and  Paul 
were  the  first  in  Koine."  He  follows  up  the  succession 
by  stating :  "  The  succession  of  Bishops  in  Rome  had  this 
consecution,  Peter  and  Paul,  Linus,  Cletus,  Clement, 
Evaristus,  Alexander,"  &c. 

This  is  pretty  strong  testimony,  given  by  a  man  of  ex- 
tensive knowledge  and  reading,  whose  research  was  close 
and  protracted,  and  whose  opportunities  were  abundant  and 
ample. 

St.  Jerome  was  born  in  the  year  329  or  331,  and  lived 
to  the  year  420,  enjoying  extraordinary  advantages  of  ex- 
tensive information  in  Home,  in  Palestine,  and  in  various 
other  places  where  the  best  opportunities  of  knowledge  were 
to  be  found.  He  writes  of  himself:  "When  a  boy  I 
studied  the  liberal  arts  at  Rome.  I  was  wont  to  make  a 
round  to  visit  the  tombs  of  the  Apostles  and  Martyrs, 
with  others  of  the  same  age  and  inclinations,  and  often  to 
descend  into  the  caves  which  are  dug  deep  into  the  earth, 
and  have  for  walls  on  each  side  the  bodies  of  those  that 
are  interred  there."  1  His  close  application  to  the  study  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  has  never  been  exceeded,  perhaps  never 
equalled;  no  one  better  knew  the  whole  range  of  ecclesias- 
tical affairs.  In  his  notices  of  illustrious  men  we  read  the 
following  brief  but  emphatic  and  explicit  testimony : 

iLib.  12,  c.  40,  Ezcch. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  449 

"  Simon  Peter  went  to  Rome  in  order  to  vanquish 
Simon  Magus,  and  there  he  held  the  sacerdotal  Chair 
during  twenty-five  years,  that  is,  to  the  fourteenth  or  last 
year  of  Nero,  by  whom  he  was  fastened  to  the  Cross,  and 
suffered  martyrdom,  with  his  head  down  towards  the  earth." 

In  his  epistle  to  Marcella  we  read  the  following  testi- 
mony regarding  Rome,  which,  however,  as  the  centre  of 
former  pagan  infidelity,  he  styles  the  Babylon  of  the 
Apocalypse :  "  There  exists  the  Holy  Church ;  there  are  the 
trophies  of  the  Apostles  and  of  the  martyrs,  there  the  true 
confession  of  Christ,  there  too  the  faith  preached  by  the 
Apostle,  and  the  Christian  name  daily  raising  itself  on 
high,  having  trodden  on  the  Gentile  system." 

In  his  epistle  I  to  Pope  Damasus,  the  37th  Bishop  of 
Rome,  concerning  the  name  hypoatasls,  he  has  the  follow- 
ing testimony :  "  I  speak  with  the  successor  of  the  fisher- 
man and  the  Disciple  of  the  Cross ;  I  am  joined  in  com- 
munion with  your  Holiness,  that  is,  to  the  Chair  of  Peter." 

St.  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  was  born  in  Gaul  in  the 
year  340,  where  his  father,  who  was  at  the  time  prefect 
of  the  Prffitorium,  kept  his  court.  Ambrose  himself,  when 
Governor  of  Liguria  and  JEmilia,  was  chosen  for  the  See 
of  Milan  and  consecrated  in  the  year  374 ;  he  died  in 
397.  His  instruction  was  had  in  Rome,  and  no  person 
could  be  more  fully  qualified  than  he  was  by  education, 
by  habit,  and  by  principle,  to  investigate  the  origin  of 
that  Church.  It  is  from  'his  oration  against  Auxentius 
Avhich  is  found  in  his  epistles,  lib.  5,  that  we  read  one 
of  those  accounts  of  St.  Peter,  at  which  the  Rev.  Monsieur 
Blanc,  the  clerical  brother,  and  the  Christian  Advocate 
would  affect  to  sneer  as  a  "ridiculous  tale,"  "a  fable,"  &c. 
But  my  wise  friends  ought  to  be  aware  that  we  have  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  contain  many  similar 
statements,  only  from  the  same  hands,  and  by  the  same 
testimony  which  transmits  to  us  those  tales  and  fables,  as 
the  sage  and  critical  trio  are  pleased  to  designate  them. 


450  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCQPATE. 

St.  Ambrose  is  stating  an  occurrence  which  took  place 
after  the  Christians  had  prevailed  upon  Peter  to  leave 
the  city  of  Rome  in  order  to  escape :  "  He  began  to  go 
beyond  the  walls  by  night,  and  seeing  Christ  meet  him  in 
the  gate-way,  as  if  entering  the  city,  he  said :  '  Lord  whither 
goest  Thou  ? '  Christ  answered :  l  I  come  to  Rome  for  the 
purpose  of  being  again  crucified.'  Peter  understood  the 
divine  answer  to  relate  to  his  own  cross,  &c.  ... 
Being  quickly  seized  upon,  he  by  his  Cross  honored  the 
Lord  Jesus." 

In  his  Book  III  on  the  Sacraments,  chap,  i.,  he  has- 
the  following  testimony,  showing  the  ground  upon  which 
he  made  a  statement :  "  Truly  we  have  as  the  author  of 
this  our  assertion  Peter  the  Apostle,  who  was  the  Priest 
of  the  Roman  Church." 

St.  Paulinus,  Bishop  of  Nola,  was  born  of  illustrious- 
parents,  at  Bordeaux,  in  the  year  353,  educated  in  the 
most  famous  schools,  and  possessed  all  the  advantages  of 
talent,  fortune,  books,  and  communication  with  the  most 
learned  men  of  his  time,  in  various  places  where  he  re- 
sided. He  entered  upon  retirement  from  his  worldly 
grandeur  in  the  year  390,  and  was  consecrated  in  409, 
and  died  in  431.  In  his  book  "  Natali,"  3,  he  gives  u& 
the  following  testimony :  "  And  Rome  herself,  powerful  in 
the  sacred  monuments  of  the  heavenly  leaders,  in  Peter 
and  in  Paul." 

St.  John  Chrysostom  was  born  about  the  year  344,  at 
Antioch.  He  was  the  only  son  of  Secundus,  the  coni- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  imperial  troops  in  Syria.  His  name 
in  his  eulogy;  his  knowledge  was  indeed  extensive,  as 
his  tongue  was  eloquent.  He  was  ordained  deacon  in  381; 
priest  in  386;  and  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople on  the  26th  of  February,  398,  and  died  on  the 
14th  of  September,  407.  In  his  Commentary  on  the  18th 
Psalm  we  read :  "  Because  Peter  the  fisherman  took  posses- 
sion of  the  chief  royal  city,  he  shines,  even  after  death, 
more  splendid  than  the  sun." 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  451 

In  his  Homily  32,  on  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  he 
states :  "  The  heavens  do  not  shine  so  brightly  when  the 
sun  shoots  forth  his  rays,  as  doth  the  city  of  the  Romans, 
pouring  out  the  light  of  those  two  lamps  through  all  the 
world.  From  this  place  Paul  will  be  snatched,  from  this 
place  Peter.  Consider,  and  be  astonished  what  a  spectacle 
Rome  will  behold,  tc  wit,  Paul  arising  suddenly  from  the 
repository  together  with  Peter,  and  borne  upwards  to  meet 
the  Lord." 

Eutropius,  an  excellent  historian  born  in  the  same  cen- 
tury, who  wrote  ten  books  of  the  history  of  Rome  down 
to  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Valcns,  gives  the  following 
testimony  in  his  book  vii  "  On  the  Life  of  Nero :" 
"Finally  he  ad  led  this  to  all  his  other  crimes,  that  he 
butchered  the  holy  Apostles  of  God,  Peter  and  Paul." 

St.  Sulpicius  Ssverns,  of  a  rich  and  illustrious  Roman 
family,  was  born  near  Toulouse  in  Aquitain,  about  the 
year  360.  He  was  a  most  acute  and  eloquent  barrister,  of 
extensive  reading  and  deep  erudition.  Upon  the  death  of 
his  wife  he  retired  and  devoted  himself  altogether  to  piety 
and  literature.  Some  writers  state  that  he  was  ordained 
priest,  but  doubts  exist  upon  the  subject.  He  compiled  an 
ecclesiastical  history  and  some  works  of  hagiography.  The 
language  of  his  abridged  history,  to  the  year  400,  is  such 
as  to  deserve  a  comparison  in  style  with  best  of  the 
earlier  ages,  and  procured  for  him  the  appellation  of  the 
Christian  Sallust.  His  death  occurred  about  the  year  420, 
when  it  was  generally  supposed  he  was  a  monk  in  a 
monastery,  founded  near  Marseilles,  by  Cassian,  who  came 
thither  from  Constantinople  about  twelve  years  previously. 
Here  is  his  testimony :  "  The  divine  religion  had  grown 
strong  in  the  city,  Peter  being  Bishop  there,  and  Paul 

having  been  afterwards  led  to  Rome Paul  and 

Peter  were  capitally  sentenced,  of  whom  one  was  beheaded 
with  a  sword;  Peter  was  lifted  on  a  cross."  l 

i  Sac    Hist.,  lib.  2. 


452  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

The  Emperor  Theodosius  the  Great  reigned  from  395  to 
408,  and  from  his  situation  must  have  had  good  oppor- 
tunities of  knowing  the  general  impression  of  the  wise  and 
the  learned  of  his  own  day,  as  well  as  the  history  of  pre- 
vious times.  This  emperor  must,  if  local  prejudices  or 
partialities  swayed  him,  have  been  less  disposed  to  favor 
Rome  than  Constantinople.  Let  us  view  his  testimony 
given  in  "G.  de  summa  Trinitate,  et  fide  Catholica,  L. 
cunctos  populos :"  "  We  desire  all  the  people  who  are 
under  the  rule  of  our  clemency  to  be  exercised  in  that 
religion,  whose  preservation  as  yet  .  amongst  the  Romans 
declare  it  to  have  been  to  them  delivered  by  the  blessed 
Apostle  Peter." 

St.  Augustine,  Bishop  of  Hippo,  was  born  at  Tagaste  in 
Numidia  in  the  year  354.  His  education  was  most  care- 
fully looked  after,  his  talents  were  of  the  first  order,  and 
his  research  was  extensive  and  accurate.  Having  been  in- 
structed in  the  Christian  doctrine  by  St.  Ambrose,  as  well 
as  by  an  aged  priest  named  Simplician,  whom  Pope  Da- 
masus  had  formerly  sent  to  instruct  Ambrose  himself,  he 
became  a  Christian,  and  was  baptized  by  St.  Ambrose,  on 
Easter  eve,  in  the  year  387.  In.  the  course  of  two  or 
three  years  afterwards  he  was  ordained  priest,  and  was 
consecrated  bishop  in  the  year  395,  and  died  in  the  year 
430.  I  might  quote  many  passages  from  his  voluminous 
writings  to  sustain  the  facts  which  I  here  uphold.  I  shall 
be  content  with  the  following :  "  Rome  commends  more 
solemnly,  and  with  greater  celebrity,  the  merits  of  Peter 
and  of  Paul,  because  they  suffered  on  the  same  day."1 
"  What  hath  the  Chair  of  the  Church  of  Rome  done  to  you, 
that  Chair  in  which  Peter  sat>  and  in  which  Anastasius 
now  sits  ?  " 2 

In  his  sixteenth  epistle,  he  enumerates  the  Bishojs  of 
Rome  from  Peter  to  Anastasius. 

Paul  Orosius,  a  learned  priest  of  Tarragona,  in  Spain, 
who  about  the  year  416  was  in  Palestine  and  in  several 

1  Lib.  1,  c.  10,  do  conscnsu,  Evangel.        » Lib.  11.  c.  51,  contra  llttcras  rctiliam. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  453 

parts  of  the  most  flourishing  divisions  of  the  Church,  the 
doctrine  and  knowledge  of  which  he  had  fully  known, 
testifies  in  lib.  vii,  c.  6  of  his  history : 

"In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Claudius,  Peter,  the 
Apostle  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  came  to  Rome,  and  by 
faithful  discourse  taught  the  saving  faith  to  all,  and  approved 
it  by  most  powerful  virtues,  and  from  that  time  Christians 
began  to  be  at  Rome." 

"  For  Nero  first  at  Rome  punished  and  slew  Christians, 
and  endeavoring  to  extirpate  the  very  name,  he  put  to 
death  the  most  blessed  Apostles  of  Christ,  Peter  by  the 
cross  and  Paul  by  the  sword." 

Theodoret,  Bishop  of  Cyprus,  was  consecrated  in  423 ; 
his  see  was  about  80  miles  from  Antioch.  He  died  in  the 
year  458,  before  he  had  reached  his  70th  year.  He  was 
deeply  versed  in  every  branch  of  Syriac,  Greek,  and  Hebrew 
learning,  highly  esteemed  for  his  critical  and  philosophical 
powers.  An  unfortunate  dispute  existed  between  him  and 
St.  Cyril,  of  Alexandria,  legate  of  Pope  Celcstine,  regarding 
the  personal  criminality  of  Xestorius,  Bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople ;  so  that  Theodoret  was  no  flatterer  of  the  See  of 
Rome.  He  made  a  valuable  compilation  of  Church  history 
from  the  year  324,  when  Eusebius  closed,  to  the  year 
429 ;  besides  writing  several  other  works.  In  his  Com.  on 
chapter  i,  to  the  Romans,  we  have  this  testimony : 

"The  great  Peter  first  gave  to  them  (the  Romans;  tne 
Gospel  doctrine." 

In  his  epistle  to  Pope  Leo  the  Great,  writing  of  Rome, 
he  states : 

"  She  possesses  the  sepulchres  of  our  common  Fathers 
and  doctors  of  the  truth,  of  Peter  and  of  Paul,  which 
illuminate  the  souls  of  the  faithful." 

"  They  (Peter  and  Paul)  have  made  your  See  the  more 
illustrious ;  this  is  the  sum  of  yonr  goods.  But  God  hath 
now  also  rendered  your  See  bright  and  worthy  of  remark, 
when  he  hath  placed  your  Holiness  in  that  seat  which 
emits  the  rays  of  the  orthodox  faith." 


454  ST.  PETER  S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

I  could  swell  tliis  catalogue,  but  to  what  purpose?  Noth- 
ing is  more  plainly  exhibited  upon  the  records  of  antiquity, 
in  the  writings  of  historians,  in  the  letters  of  bishops^  in 
the  edicts  of  emperors,  in  the  documents  of  Churches,  in 
public  monuments,  in  the  acts  of  councils,  in  the  avowal 
of  opponents,  than  that  the  blessed  Apostle  Peter  was  at 
Borne,  was  first  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  died  in  that  city, 
being  Bishop  thereof.  Let  any  man  of  common  discernment 
now  compare  the  small  portion  of  our  evidence  which  I 
have  adduced,  with  this  miserable  sophistry  of  the  lauded 
Monsieur  Blanc  of  Mens,  Isere,  and  draw  his  own  conclusion. 

I  have  t\vo  other  points  to  meet,  which,  of  course,  I 
shall  thoroughly  discuss,  viz.,  whether  by  Babylon,  St.  Peter 
meant  Rome,  or  the  city  of  Chaldea,  or  Grand  Cairo ;  and 
also  whether  Scripture  does  not  contradict  my  position. 
But  I  was  desirous  of  first  giving  a  small  specimen  of 
our  tradition,  which  is  so  much  undervalued  by  those  who 
have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  the  meaning  which 
we  attach  to  the  word.  With  us  tradition  means  conclusive 
evidence  derived  from  the  earliest  ages.  It  might  be  of 
very  little  importance  to  the  essayist,  to  his  clerical  brother, 
and  to  the  Christian  Advocate,  to  know  what  was  the  doc- 
trine of  the  true  believers  of  the  early  ages,  the  doctrine 
of  those  men  who  alone  can  be  to  us  the  witnesses  of  the 
authenticity  and  the  integrity  of  the  holy  Scriptures.  We 
pretend  to  no  private  inspiration  to  lead  us  individually  to 
the  knowledge  of  which  book  is  and  which  is  not  canon- 
ical. The  canon  by  which  the  distinction  was  originally 
made  was  found  in  the  judgment  and  authority  of  those 
men  who  composed  the  Church  of  Christ  in  those  primitive 
ages ;  the  writers  whom  I  have  adduced  as  my  witnesses 
are  also  the  witnesses  of  their  canons.  Reject  their  testi- 
mony in  one  case,  and  how  can  you  consistently  retain  it 
in  another?  Thus  the  holy  trio  destroy  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  yet  they  make  those  Scriptures,  which  they  so 
destroy,  the  foundation  of  their  belief! 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  455 

The  host  of  witnesses  adduced  by  me  might  indeed  have 
"been  interested  in  rendering  credible  the  fact  that  Peter 
vras  at  Rome ;  and  I  am  convinced  they  were,  because 
they  were  so  interested  in  rendering  truth  credible,  and 
they  proved  their  interest  by  their  devotion  thereto,  exhib- 
ited in  labors,  in  self-denial,  by  splendid  virtue,  in  immense 
sacrifices,  and  frequently  by  martyrdom.  But  could  they 
create  monuments  at  Rome  to  commemorate  facts  which  the 
Roman  people  knew  to  be  fiction?  Could  they  persuade 
the  world  that  Peter,  who  must  have  died  somewhere,  and 
the  place  of  whose  death  must  have  been  known,  did  not 
oie  there,  but  died  where  he  never  had  been,  where  no 
monument  was  found,  no  tradition  existed,  no  claim  was 
made?  It  would  be  folly  in  me  to  enumerate  the  absurd- 
ities which  those  suppositions  would  involve.  But  in  calling 
forward  a  few  from  the  host  at  my  disposal,  I  have  omitted 
several  of  the  early  Bishops  of  Rome  itself:  such  as 
Clement  and  Anacletus  in  the  first  century,  men  who  knew 
and  spoke  with  Peter  at  Rome ;  Marcellus  in  the  third 
century;  Damasus  and  Innocent,  who  lived  in  the  fourth; 
Leo  the  Great  and  Gelasius,  who  are  of  the  fifth  century. 
I  have  omitted  the  testimonies  of  Councils  such  as  that 
of  Sardica  in  347  and  of  Chalcedon  in  451.  I  have  ceased 
to  unfold  the  roll  of  ages,  not  because  it  was  deficient  in 
authorities,  but  because  I  am  convinced  that  I  have  exhib- 
ited more  than  enough  to  satisfy  any  reasonable  person. 

If  it  be  said  that  the  Chrysostoms,  the  Ambroses,  the 
Augustines,  the  Epiphaniuses,  the  Jeromes,  the  Eusebiuses, 
the  Orosiuses,  and  the  other  luminaries  of  that  splendid 
galaxy  which  marked  the  Christians'  path  from  earth  to 
heaven  with  the  milk  of  celestial  doctrine  in  the  early  days 
of  the  Church,  were  interested  in  upholding  the  system 
to-day  called  Popery:  they  who  make  the  assertion  identify 
modern  Popery,  as  they  are  pleased  to  call  our  religion, 
and  the  Christian  system  of  the  best,  the  brightest,  and 
the  earliest  days  of  the  Church.  How  then,  in  the  name 
of  consistency,  can  we  be  charged  with  innovations,  when 


456  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

we  desire  to  be  tried  by  the  testimony  of  those  ancient 
Fathers?  How  can  our  separated  brethren  claim  to  hold 
the  principles  of  the  primitive  Church,  when  their  continual 
efforts  are  directed  to  the  destruction  or  the  depreciation 
of  its  splendid  documents  and  noble  witnesses  ? 

Y. 

I  proceed  to  examine  the  next  paragraph  of  Monsieur 
Blanc's  production : 

"  The  tradition  of  this  journey  of  St.  Peter  to  Rome 
rests,  moreover,  upon  the  supposition  that  the  Babylon, 
from  which  he  wrote  his  first  epistle,  was  Rome.  Euse- 
bius  strengthens  this  conjecture  by  saying  that  Peter  '  fig- 
uratively called  Rome  Babylon.'  But  many  learned  men 
with  reason  maintain  that  the  name  Babylon  ought  to  be 
taken  in  its  proper  signification,  for  Babylon  of  Chaldea, 
or  that  of  Egypt,  which  is  now  Grand  Cairo,  where  there 
were  many  Jews,  to  whom  Peter  was  specially  sent,  as  St. 
Paul  teaches  us,  in  the  second  chapter  of  his  epistle  to 
the  Galatians." 

The  second  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians  states, 
indeed,  a  general  regulation  which  was  adopted  for  a  division 
of  labor,  by  which  Peter  was  principally  to  labor  amongst  the 
Jews  and  Paul  principally  amongst  the  Gentiles ;  but  each  of 
them  did  frequently  labor  amongst  both  descriptions.1  Peter 
first  received  Gentiles  into  the  Church,  and  Paul  frequently 
preached  in  the  synagogues,  and  even  in  the  city  of  Rome 
itself  he  sought  to  bring  the  children  of  Israel  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  Messias.  If  we  look  to  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  xiii,  14,  we  shall  find  abundant  evidence  of  the  fact, 
and  verse  46  exhibits  that  it  was  not  either  unusual  or  acci- 
dental. "  To  you  it  behoved  us  to  speak  first  the  word  of 
God;  but  seeing  you  reject  it,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy 
of  eternal  life ;  behold  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles."  The  same 
principle  is  exhibited  in  Acts  xvii,  1,  2,  10,  17;  xviii, 
4,  5,  19;  xix,  8;  xxviii,  17,  23,  28,  &c.,  as  also  in  many 

>Acts,  i,  48. 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  457 

other  passages.  The  fact  of  his  addressing  an  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  shows  clearly  that  St.  Paul  found  himself  at 
perfect  liberty  to  .seek  for  their  salvation  and  to  bring  them 
into  the  Christian  fold.  Hence,  upon  the  same  ground, 
though  the  principal  charge  of  laboring  specially  amongst 
the  Jews  was  assumed  by  Peter,  this  selection  did  not 
interfere  with  his  concern  for  the  Gentiles.  The  chapter 
referred  to  by  the  essayist  does  not,  therefore,  preclude  the 
laboring  of  Peter  amongst  the  Gentiles. 

I  will  now  suppose  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Peter  to 
reside  where  a  large  body  of  Jews  had  been  collected 
together.  I  shall  adduce  testimony  to  show  that  there  was 
such  an  assemblage  in  Rome.  In  Josephus1  we  read  that 
when  the  Jews  sent  fifty  ambassadors  to  Rome  for  the 
purpose  of  lodging  a  complaint  against  the  administration 
of  Herod,  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  there  were  "above 
eight  thousand  of  the  Jews  already  at  Rome,"  joined  ia 
the  commission  with  those  fifty  delegates  from  Palestine. 
The  number  of  that  nation  residing  in  the  city  about  the 
thirtieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Augustus,  which  corresponds 
with  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  has  been  estimated 
by  good  statistical  antiquarians  at  considerably  upwards  of 
twelve  thousand ;  several  of  whom  would  not  join  in  the 
accusation  against  Herod,  nor  in  petitioning  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Jewish  laws.  During  the  forty-three  years  that 
intervened  between  this  period  and  the  arrival  of  Peter, 
the  calamities  and  dissensions  of  Judea,  as  well  as  the 
tyranny  of  the  petty  rulers  by  whom  it  was  harassed, 
caused  the  emigration  of  large  bodies  of  its  inhabitants, 
reat  numbers  of  whom  took  up  their  abode  in  the  capital 
of  the  empire;  so  that  in  the  reign  of  Caligula,  Philo 
wrote  that  the  larger  portion  of  the  city  beyond  the  Tiber 
was  occupied  by  Jews.  Dio,  the  historian,2  informs  us  that 
in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  who  assumed  the  imperial  purple 
in  the  year  41,  and  died  in  54,  that  emperor  found  so 
many  of  the  nation  in  Rome,  that  although  desirous  of 

lAntiquit.,  Lib.  xvil,  c.  11.  *  Lib.  9. 


458  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

banishing  them,  he  feared  to  do  so,  and  merely  published 
at  first  an  edict  to  prohibit  their  assemblage,  lest  they 
should  create  a  sedition.  Our  statement  is,  that  Peter 
arrived  in  this  city  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Claudius,  probably  about  the  middle  or  latter  part  of  the 
year  43.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that  there  "was 
then  an  ample  field  amongst  the  Jews  in  Rome  open  for 
his  exertions ;  because  probably,  at  that  period,  no  other 
city  in  the  universe  contained  so  extensive  an  assemblage 
of  that  nation. 

The  preaching  of  this  Apostle  must  have  created  con- 
siderable excitement  amongst  the  Jews,  as  we  may  judge  by 
analogy,  from  the  relations  given  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles. Hence,  allowing  for  the  carelessness  and  contempt 
with  which  a  Gentile  writer  usually  treated  what  was  called 
the  superstition  of  the  Jews,  we  can  easily  find  the  true 
meaning  of  the  blunder  of  Suetonius  (in  Claudio) :  "  He  ex- 
pelled from  Rome  the  Jews,  who  were  in  a  continual  tumult 
at  the  instigation  of  Chrestus."  The  explanation  is  as  obvi- 
ous as  it  is  correct.  Though  Christ  was  not  there,  His 
Apostle  was;  and  this  expulsion,  which  took  place  in  the 
ninth  year  of  Claudius,  probably  caused  Peter,  who  was 
the  leader  of  the  Christians,  to  leave  the  city  for  some 
time.  In  examining  the  circumstances  of  Babylon  and  of 
Grand  Cairo,  I  shall  show  that  in  neither  place  was  there 
any  such  field  open  for  the  labors  of  this  Apostle  as  there 
was  in  Rome;  so  that  it  will  be  clear,  the  reference  to 
the  second  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians  is  a 
delusion.  Even  Monsieur  Blanc  does  not  venture  to  assert 
that  when  St.  Peter  wrote  "the  Church  which  is  in  Baby- 
lon, elected  together,  saluteth  you,  and  so  doth  my  son 
Mark,"  he  did  not  mean  Rome ;  he  merely  tells  us,  that 
"many  learned  men  with  reason  maintain  that  the  name  of 
Babylon  ought  to  be  taken  in  its  proper  signification  for 
Babylon  of  Chaldea,  or  that  of  Egypt,  where  were  many 
Jews."  It  is,  however,  not  a  little  remarkable  that  those 
"many  learned  men,"  who  are  all  moderns,  cannot  inform 


ST.  PETER'S  HOMAN  EPISCOPATE.  459 

us  from  which  Babylon  it  was  written,  though  they  are 
certain  that  it  was  not  written  from  Rome ;  neither  do 
they  vouchsafe  to  conjecture  where  St.  Peter  died,  though 
they  are  convinced  that  it  was  not  at  Rome ;  nor  will 
they  show  us  where  he  labored,  though  verily  it  could 
not  be  at  Rome. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  show  sufficient  grounds  for  sub- 
stituting the  word  Babylon  for  Rome,  in  the  epistle  itself, 
by  the  writer.  First,  I  have  already  demonstrated  that  the 
Jews  were  banished  from  the  city  in  the  reign  of  Claudius, 
because  of  the  tumults  occasioned  by  the  introduction  of 
Christianity.  They  soon  began  to  return,  but  slowly  and 
privately  at  first.  St.  Peter  was  the  most  obnoxious 
personage,  as  well  to  the  great  body  of  his  own  nation, 
as  to  the  rulers  of  the  city;  upon  which  score  prudence 
would  suggest  that  he  should  not  too  openly  and  unneces- 
sarily exhibit  to  every  person  that  he  again  resided  in  that 
city.  Could  he  find  a  word  designating  his  abode,  to  those 
who  would  not  betray  him,  and  which  would  not  point  him 
out  to  his  opponents,  its  "use  would  be  natural.  Such  a 
word  was  Babylon. 

He  wrote  primarily  to  converted  Hebrews,  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  such  figures  of  speech,  and  who  were  con- 
versant with  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  in  which  they 
abounded.  Amongst  this  people  the  name  of  a  city  or  of 
a  region  had  generally  attached  an  historical  recollection, 
which  immediately  exhibited  what  many  phrases  would  be 
required  to  describe.  Sodom  was  a  city  of  unnatural  crime, 
Egypt  an  idolatrous  people,  Canaan  an  accursed  race,  Baby- 
lon was  the  prison  of  their  fathers,  the  enemy  of  their 
nation,  the  usurper  of  their  rights,  the  tyrant  of  their  race, 
the  proud  and  inexorable  mistress  of  their  captive  rulers. 
Such  also  in  the  days  of  Peter  was  pagan  Rome;  and 
the  Asiatic  Jews  were  so  well  accustomed  to  designate  that 
mighty  city  by  the  name,  that  the  Evangelist  St.  John  so 
styles  it,  amongst  other  places,  in  Rev.  or  Apocal.  xiv,  8; 
xvi,  19 ;  xvii,  5 ;  xviii,  2,  10,  21.  To  support  the  fact 


460  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

of  their  being  so  accustomed  to  style  Rome,  I  could  pro- 
duce the  testimony  of  Tertullian,  lib.  3,  contra  Marcion, 
Andreas  and  Aretas  in  Apoc.  xvii,  St.  Jerome  in  Isaiam 
xlvi,  and  xlvii,  besides  many  others,  who,  together  with 
Papias,  Eusebius,  and  the  several  early  writers,  state  that 
St.  Peter  meant  Rome  in  this  first  epistle  by  the  word 
Babylon.  Not  only  has  Martin  Luther  designated  the  city 
of  Rome  by  this  name,  when  he  compiled  his  book,  "  Of 
the  Babylonish  Captivity,"  but  hundreds  of  zealous  Protest- 
ants perpetually  apply  to  us  Romanists,  as  they  call  us, 
all  that  is  written  against  Babylon  in  the  Revelations.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  gentlemen  do  not  mean  to  say 
and  to  unsay  with  the  same  breath.  I  will  then  conclude 
that  Peter  had  a  sufficient  cause  for  styling  Rome  Babylon, 
and  that  in  so  doing  he  was  intelligible  to  the  persons 
for  whom  he  wrote. 

I  might  here  rest  my  case,  and  upon  the  testimonies  of 
the  ancient  witnesses  assert,  that  we  have  in  this  epistle 
the  declaration  of  Peter  himself,  that  he  was  at  Rome. 
Let  those  who  assert  that  he  was  the  founder  of  the 
Church  in  Babylon  of  Chaldea,  or  of  that  in  Grand  Cairo, 
adduce  their  authorities ;  let  them  produce  the  records  of 
those  Churches ;  let  them  give  to  us  the  catalogue  of  his 
successors;  let  them  inform  us  of  the  place,  the  time,  the 
manner  of  his  death ;  let  them  refer  us  to  one  ancient 
writer  who  gives  the  shadow  of  a  contradiction  to  my 
statement,  or  who  affords  even  the  most  flimsy  basis  upon 
which  to  rest  their  conjectures. 

I  go  yet  farther,  and  I  ask  if  it  was  not  written  from 
the  Babylon  of  the  Apocalypse,  which  is  Rome,  from  what 
Babylon  was  it  written  ?  The  answer  which  I  receive 
is  a  conjecture.  I  have  produced  positive  testimony.  What 
species  of  logic  is  that  which  would  destroy  positive  testi- 
mony by  the  conjecture  of  a  possibility?  But  I  yield  all 
this,  and  proceed  to  examine  the  conjectures  themselves. 
In  truth  the  advocates  of  each  will  refute  the  advocates 
of  the  other.  Those  who  contend  that  the  epistle  was 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  461 

written  from  Chaldea  state  that  in  the  second,  which  was 
written  from  the  same  place  (c.  ii,  v,  15),  the  word  Bosor 
i.s  a  Chaldaic  expression,  and  that  this  furnishes  evidence 
.sufficient  for  the  residence  of  the  writer.  I  have  but  a 
very  passing  remark  to  make  upon  the  extraordinary 
obstacle.  A  transcriber  might  have  written  Bosor  for  Beor, 
by  mistake,  and  the  word  would  then  cease  to  be  Chal- 
daic. Again,  between  the  period  when  Moses  wrote  that 
Balaam  was  the  son  of  Beor,  and  the  period  of  Peter's 
writing  his  epistles,  the  Hebrew  people  had  been  cap- 
tives in  Chaldea;  and  long  before  the  Apostle's  day, 
the  Syro-Chaldaic  had  been  substituted  for  the  ancient 
Hebrew.  Several  pure  Chaldaic  words  were  also  adopted, 
of  which  Bosor  might  have  been  one. 

The  ground  next  taken  by  those  persons  is,  that  although 
the  Jews  of  Babylon  had  been  greatly  reduced  in  number 
by  the  destructive  ravages  made  upon  them  under  Anileus 
and  Asineus,  as  well  by  the  Babylonians  as  by  the  united 
Greeks  and  Syrians,  still  there  were  many  of  them  who 
survived  and  settled  in  Chaldea,  as  the  last  chapter  of 
Josephus,  lib.  xviii,  exhibits.  They  also  state  that  there 
are  no  grounds  whatever  for  the  supposition  of  those  who 
assert  that  Peter  went  into  Egypt  and  there  founded  a 
Church  at  Babylon,  now  called  Grand  Cairo.  But  they  think 
it  extremely  probable  that  he  who  preached  in  Bithynia, 
Galatia,  Pontus,  and '  Cappadocia,  did  go  to  Babylon  of 
Chaldea,  which  was  in  his  vicinity,  and  came  through  it 
to  Syria.  They  say  it  is  on  all  hands  allowed  that  he 
was  at  Antioch,  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  he  went 
thence  to  Babylon  of  Chaldea,  where  a  great  number  of 
Jews  dwelt,  and  remained  with  them  for  some  time. 

My  readers  will  observe  that  all  this  is  merely  con- 
jecture and  probability,  save  the  assertion  that  no  evidence 
exists  of  his  having  founded  a  Church  in  Egypt. 

Now,  the  good  gentlemen  of  the  other  side  assure  us 
that  Babylon  of  Egypt  must  have  been  the  city  of  his 
sojourn;  for  they  demonstrate  that,  at  this  period,  the 


462  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

Jews  were  banished  from  the  Chaldean  city,  which  had 
also  become  nearly  a  desert — and  that  Peter,  having  preached 
in  Egypt  and  having  established  the  See  of  Alexandria, 
of  which  they  gave  no  proof,  went  to  the  city  of  Babylon, 
now  called  Grand  Cairo,  and  there  established  his  own  see. 
Thus,  if  we  leave  the  fight  between  our  adversaries,  they 
will  destroy  each  other. 

I  shall  give  an  outline  of  the  reasoning  upon  which  we 
allege  that  this  epistle  was  not  written  from  Babylon  in 
Chaldea.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  no  testimony  to 
uphold  the  assertion  that  Peter  ever  went  to  that  city ; 
and  we  have  abundant  evidence  that  he  did  go  to  Rome, 
which  was  known  amongst  the  Jews  and  the  early  Chris- 
tians under  the  name  of  Babylon,  because  of  the  crimi- 
nality of  its  pagan  inhabitants,  their  pride,  their  lust  of 
dominion,  their  oppression  of  the  people  of  God,  and  their 
accumulated  idolatry.  Next,  we  have  the  testimony  of 
Pliny  to  show  that  the  city  of  Chaldea  was  then  in  a  state 
verging  upon  ruin  and  hastening  to  decay.  That  author, 
book  vii,  c.  26,  writes,  that  at  this  period  it  was  reduced 
to  a  state  of  solitude,  exhausted  by  the  vicinity  of  Seleucia, 
upon  the  Tigris,  which  had  been  built  as  its  destructive 
rival  by  Nicanor.  Strabo  informs  us,  that  it  was  then 
comparatively  a  desert;  and  Diodorus  states  that  but  a 
very  small  portion  of  the  remains  of  that  city  was  inhabited. 

Add  to  these  testimonies  that  of  Josephus,  who  informs 
us  in  the  chapter  before  cited,  that,  after  the  death  of 
Anileus  and  his  companions,  which  occurred  before  the 
reign  of  Claudius,  when  this  epistle  was  written,  the  Jews 
who  remained  in  Babylon,  not  finding  themselves  sufficiently 
strong  to  resist  the  other  inhabitants,  most  of  them  left 
the  place  and  took  up  their  abode  in  Seleucia.  Six  years 
after  that  migration,  a  plague,  which  ravaged  this 
devoted  Babylon,  swept  away  the  remnant  which  lingered 
amidst  its  ruins.  Xor  were  those  who  took  refuge  in 
Seleucia  much  more  fortunate ;  for  the  Greeks  and  Syrians 
of  that  city,  having  conspired,  suddenly  attacked  their  Jew- 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  463 

ish  fellow-citizens,  of  whom  they  massacred  upwards  of 
50,000.  The  few  survivors  then  of  this  nation  that  yet 
wept  upon  the  borders  of  the  Euphrates  or  Tigris,  were 
sheltered  in  Neerda  and  in  Nisibi.  Are  we,  then,  because 
of  the  word  Bosor  is  Chaldaic,  and  because  the  right  of 
Roman  primacy  rests  upon  the  fact  of  Peter's  having  been 
at  Rome,  to  declare  that  because  there  were  Jews  in 
Babylon  before  the  period  of  their  flight  and  extermina- 
tion, this  Apostle,  as  being  chiefly  anxious  for  their  con- 
version, went  to  dwell  in  a  city  where  scarcely  one  of 
that  nation  had  remained? 

Surely,  though  that  destruction  should  not  even  have 
taken  place  previous  to  the  writing  of  this  epistle,  and 
though  we  should  not  have  good  reason  to  know  that  St. 
Peter  and  his  brethren  were  guided  by  the  prophetic  spirit 
to  which  futurity  is  open,  still  we  must  acknowledge  that 
he  and  they  received  from  on  high  light  to  understand 
the  Scriptural  prophecies ;  and  he  needed  only  to  look 
through  the  book  of  Isaias  to  be  convinced  thsit,  "  Babylon, 
the  oppressor,  should  come  to  nothing,"  xvi,  4.  "Its 
pride  should  be  brought  down  to  hell,"  v,  11.  "Its  name 
was  to  be  destroyed,  the  remains,  the  bud,  and  the  off- 
spring," v,  22.  "  It  was  to  be  made  a  possession  for  the 
ericus  and  pools  of  waters — it  was  to  be  swept  and  worn 
out  with  a  besom,"  v,  23.  "  It  was  to  be  destroyed  like 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,"  xiii,  v,  19.  "It  should  not  be 
inhabited  forever,  neither  should  the  Arabian  pitch  his  tent 
there,  nor  shepherds  rest  there,"  v,  20.  "But  wild  beasts 
should  rest  there,  the  houses  should  be  filled  with  serpents, 
ostriches  should  dwell  there,  and  the  hairy  ones  should 
dance  there,"  v,  21.  "Owls  should  answer  one  another 
in  it,"  v,  22.  And  yet,  with  this  prophecy  under  his 
eye,  and  the  proof  of  its  beginning  to  be  accomplished  in 
full  evidence  before  him,  the  holy  trio  would,  against  its 
own  judgment  and  the  evidence  of  all  antiquity,  send 
Peter  to  Chaldea,  that  they  might  keep  him  out  of  Italy! 
Admirable  critics !  Profound  antiquarians !  Learned  com- 


464  ST.  PETE&S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

mentators !  If  farther  evidence  was  required  of  the  proph- 
ecies, it  might  be  easily  found  in  chapter  xxi  of  the  same 
prophet,  in  Jeremias,  chap.  1,  li,  and  in  several  other 
places.  From  these  topics,  I  conclude  that  Peter  could  not 
have  written  from  Babylon  in  Chaldea,  for  his  residence 
in  which  we  have  not  a  particle  of  evidence,  nor  any 
evidence  of  a  Church  existing  there  in  his  day,  nor  any 
likelihood  of  his  going  thither 

M.  Blanc  states,  that  in  the  Egyptian  Babylon  there 
"were  many  Jews  to  whom  Peter  was  specially  sent."  If 
by  "  many  Jews "  he  means  such  a  number  as  a  few 
thousands,  the  information  is  quite  new  to  me.  This  city 
was  called  Bubasticus,  in  the  Nomos  Heliopolitis,  and  is 
now  probably  the  city  of  Grand  Cairo.  It  was  built  by  a 
Persian  colony  after  the  subjugation  of  Egypt  by  Cambyses, 
about  500  years  before  the  period  of  Peter's  writing.  In  the 
time  of  Strabo,  which  Avas  a  little  previous  to  the  days  of 
this  Apostle,  it  was  considered  chiefly  as  a  strong  citadel, 
which  formed  a  good  garrison  for  one  of  the  Roman  legions 
then  sent  to  guard  Egypt  (Strabo  lib.  xvii);  but  we  are  left 
without  any  information  of  its  being  a  place  in  which  either 
Jews  or  Christians  dwelt  in  any  numbers  during  more  than 
four  centuries  later  than  this  period.  Indeed,  the  Jews  of 
Pontus,  Galatia,  Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  and  generally  of  Asia 
Minor,  knew  very  little,  if  anything,  of  this  distant  city  of 
Egypt.  According  to  this  view,  which  is  the  best  that  I  can 
give  of  the  Egyptian  Babylon,  there  appears  nothing  to 
support  the  assertion  of  the  essayist,  that  in  this  city  there 
"  were  many  Jews  to  whom  Peter  was  specially  sent."  Thus, 
without  evidence  of  the  fact,  without  any  probable  grounds 
even  for  conjecture,  merely  because  of  the  name  of  Babylon 
and  the  dislike  to  Rome,  we  are  to  cast  away  the  testimony 
of  the  ancient  witnesses  and  to  place  the  Apostle  in  Grand 
Cairo ! 

It  is  natural  to  presume  that,  if  he  had  been  there,  a 
Christian  Church  would  have  existed  in  this  city,  yet  of 
this  we  have  no  evidence.  Even  Spanheim,  a  learned 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  465 

Protestant  divine,  with  all  his  research,  could  not  discover 
an  earlier  Bishop  of  Grand  Cairo  than  Cyrus,  whose  name 
is  mentioned  in  the  first  proceedings  of  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  in  451.  Baronius,  however,  will  have  it  that 
Zosimus,  who  lived  under  the  Emperor  Justin  the  younger, 
about  a  century  later  than  that  period,  is  the  first.  I 
shall  grant  Spanheim  the  benefit  of  his '  discovery,  but  how 
far  will  it  bring  his  party  on  their  way?  To  this  I  shall 
add  a  remark  of  Calmet,  which  has  great  force.  Suppose 
Home  to  be  out  of  the  question,  and  the  word  Babylon 
written  as  the  place  of  the  writer's  abode;  would  not 
those  persons  who  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  this  ancient 
metropolis,  and  who  scarcely  knew  of  the  Egyptian  city, 
naturally  look  to  the  Chaldean,  unless  some  guarded  phrase 
or  well-known  circumstance  corrected  their  mistake  ?  Yet 
here  is  no  such  phrase,  and  if  any  such  circumstance 
existed,  it  must  have  been  known  to  the  early  writers, 
some  one  of  whom  would  have  thrown  light  upon  the 
subject,  and  prevented  the  supposed  delusion  under  which 
all  Christians  labored  during  so  many  centuries,  in  believing 
the  Babylon  of  St.  Peter  to  be  the  Babylon  of  St.  John. 
These  few  testimonies  and  observations  will  show  why  I 
state  that  Peter,  by  writing  from  Babylon,  informs  us  that 
he  writes  from  Rome,  and  not  from  a  city  on  the  Eu- 
phrates, the  Tigris,  or  the  Nile.  Upon  these  grounds, 
I  assert  that  in  the  Scripture  itself,  and  under  Peter's 
own  hand,  we  have  evidence  of  his  having  been  in  Rome. 

I  shall  here  introduce  the  testimony  of  the  learned  Hugo 
Grotius,  who,  though  not  within  the  pale  of  our  commu- 
nion, gave  strong  evidence  in  our  favor  on  more  subjects 
than  the  present.  In  his  remarks  upon  this  epistle  he 
states : 

"The  ancient  and  the  modern  interpreters  differ  concerning 
Babylon.  The  ancients  interpret  it  to  be  Rome,  where  no 
true  Christian  will  doubt  that  Peter  was ;  the  moderns, 
Babylon  in  Chaldea ;  I  agree  with  the  ancients." 

so 


466  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

Some  faw  gentlemen,  not  being  able  to  get  over  the 
difficulties  of  Babylon  upon  the  Euphrates  nor  of  Babylon 
upon  the  Nile,  have  recollected  that  Seleucia  was  also- 
called  by  this  ominous  name ;  but  I  suspect  that  Seleucia 
might  have  been  considered  as  altogether  placed  beyond  our 
question  after  the  massacre  of  50,000  Jews  and  the  flight 
of  the  remainder  to  Neerda  and  to  Nisibi.  But  a  French 
Protestant  divine,  Louis  Capelle,  who  died  in  1658,  not 
satisfied  with  either  of  the  above  conjectures,  and  of  all 
things  disliking  to  go  to  Rome,  fixed  upon  Jerusalem  as 
the  Babylon  of  Peter,  because  there  Christ  was  slain  and 
the  Apostles  persecuted.  My  object,  however,,  being  only 
to  discharge  the  task  which  I  have  undertaken,  that  is,  to 
examine  M.  Blanc's  dissertation,  I  shall  not  go  out  of  it 
into  extraneous  topics  to  quarrel  with  Mr.  Capelle. 

VI. 

I  now  proceed  to  examine  the  question,  whether  the 
Scriptures,  as  quoted  by  Monsieur  Blanc,  contradict  our 
statement,  which  consists  of  three  distinct  propositions,  viz. : 
1.  That  St.  Peter  the  Apostle  was  at  Rome.  2.  That  he 
was  Bishop  of  that  city.  3.  That  he,  being  its  Bishop, 
suffered  martyrdom  there. 

This  writer  does  not  adduce  any  distinct  passage  of  the 
Scriptures  which  denies  or  is  incompatible  with  either  or 
the  whole  of  our  three  propositions ;  but  he  assumes,  by 
a  chronological  arrangement  which  is  unwarranted,  that  some 
Scriptural  statements,  whose  truth  we  admit,  are  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  truth  of  our  positions.  It  would,  therefore, 
be  well  for  us  to  have  accurate  notions  of  what  we  assert, 
so  that  we  may  be  able  to  distinguish  what  we  require  and 
.support,  from  what  it  is  assumed  we  contend  for.  In  the 
first  place,  though  I  believe  that  St.  Peter  went  to  Rome 
in  the  first  or  second  year  of  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  if  not  in  the  last  year  of  Caligula ;  it  will  be 
sufficient  for  my  purpose  if  I  prove  that  he  was  there 
only  twenty-one  or  twenty-four  years  after,  viz.,  in  the 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  467 

latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Nero ;  for  if  he  was  then  put 
to  death,  being  Bishop  of  Rome,  our  three  propositions 
will  stand,  and  his  office  was  to  be  continued  in  that  city, 
unless,  what  is  not  pretended,  he  transferred  it  elsewhere. 
What  says  M.  Blanc? 

"The  best  Catholic  ecclesiastical  writers  put  the  martyr- 
dom of  Stephen  in  the  seventh  year  after  the  death  of 
Jesus  Christ;  in  other  words,  A.  D.  40.  The  conversion 
of  St.  Paul,  at  soonest,  happened  this  year.  Thus  we  see 
seven  years  already  past.  At  this  epoch,  St.  Peter  was 
still  at  Jerusalem  with  the  other  Apostles ;  and  not  until 
some  time  afterwards,  he  was  sent  with  St.  John  to 
.strengthen  the  Samaritans,  who  had  been  converted  by  the 
ministry  of  St.  Philip.  *  Xow  when  the  Apostles  who  were 
at  Jerusalem  heard  that  Samaria  had  received  the  "Word 
of  God,  they  sent  unto  them  Peter  and  John/  (Acts  viii, 
14).  At  this  epoch,  Peter  was  still  under  the  authority  of 
the  Apostolical  college ;  it  was  only  five  or  six  hundred  years 
afterwards,  that  he  seized  upon  the  sovereign  power,  in  the 
person  of  his  successors.  After  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul, 
we  find  St.  Peter  at  Lydda,  where  he  cured  Eneas,  (Acts 
ix,  32—34);  at  Joppa,  where  he  raised  Dorcas  from  the  dead, 
(ix,  36-41);  at  Csesarea,  where  he  converted  Cornelius,  (x). 
Upon  the  report  spreading  that  Peter  had  eaten  with  the 
Gentiles,  he  returns  to  Jerusalem,  and  vindicates  himself 
before  '  them  that  were  of  the  circumcision,'  (xi).  This 
journey  of  Peter,  his  preaching  in  the  provinces  of  Judea, 
Samaria,  and  Galilee,  his  abode  at  Joppa,  and  the  other 
events  which  St.  Luke  relates,  occupy  a  space  of  three 
years  (A.  D.  43).  "We  learn  that  the  Christians,  dispersed 
on  occasion  of  the  death  of  Stephen,  had  carried  the  good 
savor  of  the  Gospel  to  Antioch.  Thither  Barnabas  was 
immediately  sent,  who,  seeing  the  grace  of  God,  departed 
to  Tarsus,  to  seek  Paul  (Acts  ix,  25),  and  bring  him  to 
Antioch,  where  they  remained  'a  whole  year,'  (xi,  26 
A.  D.  44).  About  this  time  the  famine  predicted  by  Agabus 
should  be  placed,  the  martyrdom  of  St.  James,  the  impris- 


468  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

onment  of  St.  Peter,  and  his  remarkable  deliverance  (Acts 
xii).  Thus  far  St.  Peter  is  constantly  found  in  Judca,  not 
manifesting  upon  any  occasion  the  desire  of  going  to  Rome; 
and  why  should  he  have  gone  thither,  since  that  city  fell 
not  within  his  charge  ?  St.  Paul  says  positively :  *  The 
Gospel  of  the  uncircumcision  was  committed  unto  me,  as 
the  Gospel  of  the  circumcision  was  unto  Peter;  for  He  that 
wrought  effectually  in  Peter  to  the  Apostleship  of  the 
circumcision,  the  same  was  mighty  in  me  towards  the 
Gentiles — James,  Cephas,  and  John,  gave  to  me  and  Bar- 
nabas the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  that  we  should  go  unto 
the  heathen  and  they  unto  the  circumcision.'  (Gal.  ii,  7-9). 
St.  Paul,  three  years  after  his  conversion,  going  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  carry  the  alms  of  the  Christians  of  Antioch 
and  the  circumjacent  places,  met  Peter  there,  with  whom 
he  remained  fifteen  days.  (Acts  xi,  30 ;  Gal.  i,  18).  He 
went  up  thither  a  second  time,  fourteen  years  afterwards, 
Gal.  ii,  1),  and  there  he  still  met  with  Peter  and  his 
principal  colleagues,  (v.  9,  A.  D.  58).  Behold,  then,  Peter 
constantly  at  Jerusalem,  seven  years — ten  years — twenty-five 
years,  after  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  we  read  with  a 
little  attention  the  eleventh  verse  of  this  second  chapter 
of  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  it  appears  that  it  was  not 
till  after  this  time  that  St.  Peter  went  to  Antioch,  where, 
it  is  pretended,  this  Apostle  occupied  the  episcopal  chair 
for  seven  years ;  which  would  be  still  so  many  to  be 
deducted  from  his  pretended  residence  at  Home." 

It  is  perhaps  cruel  to  take  this  little  scrap  of  chronology 
to  pieces,  but  so  it  is,  that  my  conviction  imposes  upon 
me  the  task.  Xo\v  it  is  very  well  ascertained  that  in  the 
various  systems  of  calculation,  there  exists  a  difference  of 
from  four  to  five  years  between  the  computation  of  our 
era  and  the  true  period  of  the  birth  of  our  Redeemer. 
For  this  a  very  sufficient  cause  is  obvious.  The  compu- 
tion  by  the  Christian  era  was  not  immediately  commenced; 
indeed  it  was  only  in  527  of  our  common,  era,  which  was 
the  last  year  of  the  Eastern  Emperor  Justin  I,  that  Dionysius 


ST.    PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  469 

Exiguus,  a  learned  Scythian,  who  was  an  abbot  in  Homo, 
published  a  paschal  cycle,  in  which  he  began  his  compu- 
tations by  taking  the  first  of  January  next  after  the  birth 
of  our  Saviour,  for  the  commencement  of  his  first  year. 
The  venerable  Bede,  who  compiled  a  learned  work,  "De 
Temporum  ratione"  in  731,  uses  a  different  computation ; 
for  he  begins  his  reckoning)  which  was  continued  by  sev- 
eral until  lately,  from,  the  25th  of  March  previous  to  the 
birth  of  Christ,  that  is,  the  day  of  the  enunciation,  so  that 
what  he  would  call  the  first  of  April,  732,  would  by 
Dionysius  be  called  731.  Some  moderns  have  yet  more 
perplexed  the  subject  by  speculations  which  they  miscall 
"  historical  philosophy."  We  have,  however,  two  excellent 
checks  in  the  list  of  consuls  and  in  the  testimony  of  the 
early  Christian  Fathers.  By  accurately  examining  we  find, 
that  by  the  computation  upon  those  principles,  our  present 
era  is,  as  has  long  been  acknowledged,  upwards  of  four 
years  too  late.  According  to  the  computation  of  Varro, 
Christ  was  born  in  the  consulship  of  Augustus  (12)  and 
L.  Crn.  Sulla,  or  the  fortieth  of  the  reign  of  Augustus, 
A.  U.  C.  749 ;  he  was  baptized  in  his  thirtieth  year,  and 
was  crucified  on  the  25th  of  March,  in  the  thirty-third 
year  of  his  age,  of  the  common  era  29,  in  the  consulship 
of  the  two  Gemini.  Amongst  other  authorities  for  this  are 
Tertullian,  adv.  Jud.  c.  8 ;  St.  Augustin,  lib.  xviii,  c.  54, 
"  De  civitate  Dei ; "  Victor  Aquitanus ;  the  Liberian  cal- 
endar, etc.  This  was  in  the  year  15  of  Tiberius  reigning 
alone ;  which  statement  is  also  supported  by  Lactantius, 
lib.  iv,  c.  10,  St.  Prosper,  etc.  Having  thus  regulated  the 
mode  of  computing  by  the  vulgar  era,  I  have  to  state  that 
the  erudite  gentleman  has  not  vouchsafed  to  give  us  the 
names  of  "the  best  Catholic  writers."  How  fond  he  is  of 
turning  our  forces  against  ourselves !  "  AVho  place  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  St.  Stephen  in  the  year  40."  I  must  adhere 
to  those  whom  I  have  read,  and  place  it  in  the  same 
year  that  our  Saviour  was  crucified.  In  doing  this,  I  shall 
be  supported,  amongst  others,  by  the  learned  Protestant 


470  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

Scaliger,  and  by  Valesius  in  his  notes  upon  the  historian 
Eusebius,  lib.  ii,  ch.  1.  I  shall  also  be  upheld  by  Alban 
Butler,  who,  upon  such  a  subject,  is  no  mean  authority. 
Thus,  in  the  first  four  lines  of  this  paragraph,  I  gain  eleven 
years  upon  this  most  learned  Theban :  so  that  even  if  the 
rest  of  his  paragraph  were  correct,  he  ought  to  write  A.  D. 
47,  in  place  of  58.  How  wretched  a  contrivance  is  the 
attempt  to  introduc3  a  new  question  as  decided,  in  Acts 
viii,  14,  "Peter  still  under  the  authority  of  the  Apostolical 
college,"  when  the  question  under  examination  is  merely 
as  to  his  residence  and  death  at  Rome !  AVith  this  alleged 
authority  I  have  at  present  no  concern. 

A  great  variety  of  other  dates  are  to  be  settled  here  in 
a  very  different  way  from  that  in  which  Monsieur  Blanc 
touches  them  off.  All  the  ancient  writers  agree  that  after 
the  death  of  Stephen,  that  is,  in  the  course  of  the  year 
30,  the  Apostles  went  round  to  the  vicinity  of  Judea,  but 
did  not  disperse  into  other  nations  until  the  twelfth  year 
from  our  Saviour's  death.  In  the  fifth  of  those  years, 
Peter  fixed  his  See  at  Antioch ,  this  would  leave  him 
more  than  the  three  years,  claimed  by  the  essayist,  for  the 
occurrences  related  in  Acts  viii,  ix,  x  and  xi.  When  an 
Apostle  fixed  his  see  in  any  particular  city,  it  by  no 
means  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence  that  he  never 
visited  any  other.  A  bishop's  see  is  the  principal  place 
where  he  usually  resides,  but  he  is  frequently  absent  on 
visitations,  at  councils,  and  on  a  variety  of  other  occasions ; 
so  that  the  fixing  of  his  Sec  at  Antioch  is  by  no  means 
a  reason  for  assuming  that  the  Apostle  was  never  absent 
from  that  city.  The  statement  of  Paul's  visit  to  Peter  at 
Jerusalem,  according  to  M.  Blanc,  will  not  interfere  with 
this  supposition ;  my  object  at  present  being,  first,  to  take 
the  essayist's  own  order  of  facts,  which  order,  however,  the 
sacred  volume  does  not  determine.  I  shall  use  the  liberty 
which  he  gives  me  of  placing  the  conversion  of  Paul  in 
the  year  after  the  death  of  Stephen,  or  the  second  year 
after,  if  it  pleases  him  better.  Paul  states,  that  "  three 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  471 

years  after  this,"  not  his  conversion,  but  his  return  to 
Damascus,  he  went  to  Jerusalem  and  stayed  fifteen  days 
with  Peter  (Galat.'  i,  18).  Now  according  to  M.  Blanc 
this  might  well  have  occurred  previous  to  Peter's  fixing 
his  See  at  Antioch,  or  if  we  stnte  this  visit  to  have  been 
in  the  year  37,  as  it  is  made  by  some  who  say  that  Paul 
did  not  return  to  Damascus  until  33,  Peter,  though  Bishop 
of  Antioch,  might  have  been  on  a  visit  in  Jerusalem. 

M.  Blanc,  however,  has  to  account  in  this  place  for  a 
contradiction  of  his  own  to  Paul,  who,  in  Gal.  i,  inform- 
ing us  of  his  first  visit  to  Jerusalem,  states  the  object  of 
his  journey  was  "to  see  Peter,"  and  this  previously  to  his 
having  been  called  by  Barnabas  to  Antioch;  yet  M.  Blanc 
tells  us,  that  this  is  the  same  visit  cf  which  mention  is 
made  in  Acts  xi,  30,  whereas  the  whole  body  of  ancient 
witnesses  as  well  as  St.  Luke  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
testify  that  they  were  different  visits.  Paul's  object  in  his 
epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  not  to  state  all  the  visits 
which  he  had  paid  to  Jerusalem,  but  to  state  those  by 
occasion  of  which  he  met  any  of  the  other  Apostles  in 
that  city;  and  as  the  object  of  his  first  journey  was  "to 
see  Peter,"  the  object  of  his  next  was  to  carry  alms.  ~\Ve 
are  not  then  to  confound  both  journeys  as  the  essayist 
does,  but  to  distinguish  them,  as  the  ancients  and  the 
Scriptures  have  done. 

But  why,  if  his  object  was  truth,  docs  the  writer  pass 
over  chap,  ix  of  the  Acts,  in  which  mention  is  made  of 
this  first  visit?  Why  does  he  at  once  bring  us  to  chap. 
xi  where  the  second  visit  is  related  ?  In  his  epistle  to  the 
Galatians  Paul  states  that  after  his  conversion  he  went 
into  Arabia  and  returned  to  Damascus,  three  years  after 
which  he  went  up  to  "see  Peter,"  who  was  in  Jerusalem. 
In  Acts  ix,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  we  are  told  by  St. 
Luke  how  he  went  from  Damascus  to  Jerusalem.  In  this 
same  place  we  are  informed  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
was  sent  from  that  city  to  Caesarea  and  Tarsus ;  there  he 
is  left,  until  we  find  in  Acts  xi,  25,  that  he  is  brought 


472  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

to   Antioch,    and   then,   in   v,   30,   lie    makes    another  journey 
from   Antioch   to    Jerusalem. 

But  the  good  gentleman  has  so  prettily  attempted  to 
interweave  facts  separated  by  years,  and  to  transpose  their 
order,  that  I  must  here  stop  to  replace  them.  The  first 
visit  of  Paul  to  Jerusalem  was  fourteen  years  previous  to 
his  second  meeting  of  Peter  in  that  city.  (Gal.  ii,  1). 
Paul  was  not  at  Antioch  before  his  calling  on  Peter  in 
the  third  or  fourth  year  after  his  return  to  Damascus ; 
neither  did  he  go  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch  at  this  time, 
but  was  brought  by  the  disciples  into  regions  which  he 
mentions  in  Gal.  i,  21,  Cilicia  and  Syria.  Having  tarried 
in  those  regions  during  three  or  four  years,  and  his  aid  being 
called  for  in  Antioch  subsequently  to  the  dispersion  of  the 
other  Apostles  and  the  departure  of  Peter  from  that  city, 
he  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Claudius  accompanied 
Barnabas  thither;  because  of  the  necessities  of  that  Church, 
arising  from  the  large  number  of  converts.  (Acts  xi,  25, 
26,  etc).  The  time  is  here  marked  by  the  sacred  writer 
in  verses  27  and  28.  Claudius  began  his  reign  as  we  see 
in  41.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  to  prevent  our 
asserting  that  at  this  same  period  Peter  was  cast  into  prison 
in  Jerusalem  and  miraculously  delivered,  as  related  in  Acts 
xii,  previously  to  his  going  to  Rome ;  and  that  he  occa- 
sionally visited  the  East  so  as  to  have  met  Paul  again 
in  Jerusalem  in  51.  However,  I  shall,  instead  of  those 
surmises  lay  down  what  appears  to  be  the  general  testi-' 
mony  of  all  the  ancient  writers,  viz. :  That  Peter  founded 
the  See  of  Antioch  in  the  year  33,  and  occasionally  vis- 
ited Jerusalem  and  the  neighboring  regions;  that  in  37, 
when  he  was  at  Jerusalem,  he  was  visited  by  Paul,  who 
went  thence  to  Cilicia  and  its  vicinity,  and  that  Peter 
having  gone  to  Rome  in  40,  Paul  was  about  41  or  42 
brought  by  Barnabas  to  labor  for  a  time  in  Antioch;  that 
Peter,  having  returned  to  visit  the  East,  was  cast  into 
prison  by  Herod  in  Jerusalem  in  44,  and  escaped  as 
related  in  Acts  xii,  and  going  back  to  Rome,  remained 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  473 

until  the  expulsion  under  Claudius  in  49 ;  when  returning 
a  second  time  to  the  East,  he  was  at  Jerusalem  at  the 
council  in  51  (Acts  xv),  where  Paul  met  him  the  second 
time,  fourteen  years  after  their  first  interview.  But  in  the 
.  meantime  whilst  Peter  was  absent  on  his  second  visit  to  the 
West,  in  the  end  of  44  or  45,  Paul  had  been  to  Jeru- 
salem with  the  alms  from  Antioch  and  other  places. 
(Acts  xi,  30). 

I  am  here  obliged  to  notice  another  instance  in  which 
the  essayist  asserts  incompatibilities.  He  states  that  Bar- 
nabas was  sent  to  Antioch  immediately  after  the  dispersion 
of  the  Christians,  upon  the  death  of  Stephen.  I  shall 
merely  remark  that  St.  Luke's  object  in  this  chapter 
evidently  is  to  follow  up  the  account  which  he  had  given 
in  chap,  x,  and  the  first  part  of  chap,  xi,  of  the  admis- 
sion of  Gentiles  into  the  Church.  Hence  he  treats  the 
subject  historically  and  apart,  without  interweaving  it  with 
the  other  occurrences.  A  single  observation  will  show  this 
to  be  a  correct  statement.  The  conversion  of  St.  Paul  did 
not  occur  until  after  the  increase  of  the  Christians,  by 
reason  of  their  first  dispersion  upon  the  death  of  Stephen. 
(Acts  viii,  1  to  5).  Now  between  the  statement  in  this 
passage  and  its  repetition,  so  far  as  regarded  a  particular 
place,  viz.,  Antioch,  in  Acts  xi,  19,  a  great  many  occur- 
rences, which  occupied  several  years,  are  summarily  related 
without  mentioning  the  exact  order  of  their  dates.  It  was 
"not  until  some  years  after  the  death  of  Stephen  that  Cor- 
nelius was  received  into  the  Church,  as  related  in  Acts  x. 
Peter's  explanation  followed  this  occurrence,  and  then  the 
sacred  historian,  having  mentioned  this  account  and  decision 
of  Peter,  reverts  to  the  former  period  of  several  years 
previous,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  the  Church  of 
Antioch  had  a  great  number  of  converts,  and  to  continue 
therein  the  history  of  St.  Paul,  which  occupies  the  chief 
share  of  his  attention  thenceforth.  Hence  it  would  be 
absurd  to  state  that  the  occurrence  related  in  the  19th 
verse  immediately  followed  that  whose  relation  had  been 


474  ST.  PETER'S  RON  AN  EPISCOPATE. 

closed  in  the   18th.     It  is   equally  clear  that  the  transactions 
related  in  verses    19,   20,  21  and  22,  took   up  several   years. 
In   verse     19    it    is    plain    that    the    first    disciples    preached 
only   to    the    Jews    at   Antioch.      It   is    obviously   clear   from 
chap,    xi,    1,    2,    3,    that    the    Apostles     and     brethren     who 
were    in   Judea,  did   not  look  upon  themselves  as  authorized 
to    receive    the     Gentiles    into    the    Church    until   after   they 
had    received    the    explanation   of    St.    Peter.     It   is    only   in 
verse     18    we    find    their    first    recognition   of    the   principle 
that    they    might    be    received.     They    could    not,    therefore, 
have    previously   sent   Barnabas   to   Antioch,    and   this   recog- 
nition   having   been   some   years   after   the    death   of  Stephen, 
they  could  not  have   sent  Barnabas  thither  immediately  after 
his    death,    as    M.    Blanc    says    they   did.     But    suppose   this 
-difficulty  now   removed,  still    Barnabas   could  not  have  found 
Saul   in    Tarsus,    until   after    his    conversion,  his   return   from 
Arabia   to   Damascus,    his  journey   three    years   afterwards   to 
Jerusalem,    and    his    going    thence    to    Cacsarea    and    Tarsus, 
in   which   place   he   tarried   for   some    considerable   time.      So 
that  if  Paul  came    to   Antioch  in   44,  as  we  believe  he  did, 
and    soon    after    the    arrival    of    Barnabas,    as   was    the   fact, 
this    latter    could    not    have    gone   thither   before   42   or   43, 
at   which   period    Peter,    having    left   Antioch,    was   in   Rome, 
or    on    his   way   thence    back    to   Asia.     We   shall   also   find 
time    for    him   previously   to   have   spent   three   years   in   his 
visits    through    the    regions    mentioned    in    Acts    viii,    ix,    x 
and   xi,  besides   seven   years    being   permitted   to  elapse    from 
his    having    fixed    his    See    in   Antioch,    until   his   departure 
for    Home;    and   we    can    easily   conceive    that   within   those 
seven   years   he   might  frequently  have   visited   Jerusalem,  on 
one   of  which   occasions  St.  Paul  paid  him  a  visit  of  fifteen 
days,    in   the   year   37.     M.    Blanc,  then,   besides   suppressing 
the    reference    to    this    visit,    which    is    related    in    Acts    ix, 
endeavors    to    confound   it   with    that    mentioned    in    Acts    xi, 
and   makes   the   statement   in  Galatians  i,  refer  to  the  latter, 
when   in   fact   it   refers   to   the   former;    thus    endeavoring   to 
destroy   the    evidence   of    one   of   those    journeys.     He   next, 


ST.  PETEITS  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  475 

against  all  the  ancient  witnesses,  defers  the  martydom  of 
Stephen  full  seven  years,  and  omits  to  correct  the  calcula- 
tion of  the  era  by  upwards  of  four  years,  so  as  to  throw 
twelve  years  out  of  the  account.  Then  to  give  a  color  of 
truth  to  his  statements,  he  makes  the  Apostles  send  Barnabas 
to  Antioch  immediately  after  the  death  of  Stephen,  when  it  is 
evident  that  such  could  not  have  been  their  procedure  for 
several  years  thereafter;  and  he  makes  Barnabas  bring  Paul 
from  Tarsus  within  a  year  or  two  after  the  death  of  the  first 
deacon,  when  it  is  manifest,  from  the  accounts  of  Paul 
himself  and  of  Luke,  that  this  could  not  have  occurred  at 
the  soonest  before  the  lapse  of  from  eight  to  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  after  that  period.  Again,  the  essayist  assumes  that 
because  Peter  was  twice  met  at  Jerusalem  by  Paul,  he  could 
not  in  the  fourteen  years  which  elapsed  between  those  inter- 
views have  been  at  Antioch  and  at  Rome. 

You  will  then  perceive  that  our  distribution  of  Peter's 
time  creates  no  difficulty  in  explaining  all  the  passages  of  St. 
Luke,  whilst  it  also  agrees  with  all  the  accounts  of  the 
ancient  writers.  Whereas  M.  Blanc's  mode  of  mixing  up 
and  confounding  dates  and  facts  makes  Scripture  contradict 
itself,  and  it  also  contradicts  all  the  ancient  witnesses. 

Why  Peter  should  go  to  Home,  even  for  the  sake  of  the 
Jews,  if  for  no  other  cause,  I  have  already  shown.  That 
he  went  to  Antioch  after  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  which 
was  held  in  51,  that  is,  fourteen  years  after  37,  we  also 
freely  admit,  and  that  for  his  imprudence  he  was  admon- 
ished by  St.  Paul,  I  also  believe,  though  several  good 
critics  are  of  opinion  that  the  Cephas  mentioned  in  Galat. 
ii,  14,  and  who  was  reproved  was  not  St.  Peter,  but 
another  disciple.  My  own  opinion,  however,  is  in  unison 
with  that  of  the  great  body  of  commentators,  that  it  was 
St.  Peter  the  Apostle  who  was  so  admonished,  though  in 
verse  8,  speaking  of  the  Apostle,  the  writer  calls  him 
Peter,  and  in  the  next  verse  he  mentions  James,  Cephas 
and  John,  whereas  it  is  not  an  unusual  mode  thus  to  write 
of  the  same  person,  almost  in  the  same  line,  by  two 


476  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

different  names.  However,  suppose  it  be  Peter;  his  being 
now  at  Antioch  does  not  argue  that  he  had  not  been 
previously  there  and  also  at  Rome ;  so  that  hitherto,  as 
you  will  have  perceived,  the  difficulties  and  contradictions 
are  on  the  side  of  our  opponents.  I  shall  have  to  reduce 
his  A.  D.  58  to  A.  D.  51. 

"But  this  is  not  all.  St.  Paul  wrrote  to  the  Romans  in 
the  year  57  or  58,  about  twenty-five  years  after  the  death 
of  Jesus  Christ.  At  this  very  time  St.  Peter  ought  to 
have  been  at  Rome,  or  never.  Meanwhile  St.  Paul  glories 
in  being  especially  their  Apostle :  '  I  speak  to  you  Gen- 
tiles, inasmuch  as  I  am  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  I 
magnify  mine  office/  If  St.  Peter  had  been  settled  and 
acknowledged  as  their  proper  Apostle  or  bishop  for  several 
years  past,  would  it  not  have  been  great  arrogance  in  Paul 
to  deprive  him,  after  some  sort,  of  his  title  and  character? 
Above  all,  would  it  not  have  been  great  injustice  to  say, 
'  From  Jerusalem,  and  round  about  unto  Illyricum,  I  have 
fully  preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Yes,  so  I  have  strived 
to  preach  the  Gospel,  not  wrhere  Christ  was  named,  lest  I 
should  build  upon  another  man's  •foundation  ? '  (Rom.  xv, 
19,  20).  How  then  should  he  think  of  going  to  Rome, 
if  St.  Peter  had  already  built  there  the  first  Church  of 
the  world?" 

What   I   have    stated    in   my   last   section    answers    this. 

"Why,  in  the  long  detail  of  salutations,  which  fill  almost 
the  whole  chapter  of  this  epistle,  is  there  no  mention  made 
of  the  great  head  of  the  universal  Church  ?  In  A.  D.  60, 
when  Paul  arrived  at  Rome,  he  called  together  the  prin- 
cipal Jews  that  were  in  the  city  (Acts  xxviii,  17),  with- 
out supposing  himself  to  usurp  the  rights  and  the  authority 
of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  without-  even  thinking  of 
St.  Peter,  who  beyond  controversy  would  have  been  of  the 
greatest  utility  to  him  in  his  bonds.  (A.  D.  62).  St.  Paul 
remained  two  whole  years  in  Rome  (Acts  xxviii,  30) ;  he 
wrote  from  thence  divers  letters  to  the  Ephesians,  Colos- 
sians,  Philemon,  and  the  Philippians ;  all  these  letters  close 


ST.  PE  TEE'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE.  477 

with  the  salutations  of  the  principal  Christians  of  that 
famous  city,  and  nowhere  do  we  find  a  single  word  of  St. 
Peter.  How  shall  this  silence  be  accounted  for  (consistently 
with  Peter's  supposed  presence  at  Rome)?  Truly,  I  should 
be  curious  to  know.  'Aristarchus '  (it  is  said  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  Colossians,  ch.  iv,  10,  11),  *  my  fellow-prisoner — and 
Marcus,  sister's  son  to  Barnabas — and  Jesus,  who  is  called 
Justus,  who  are  of  the  circumcision :  these  only  are  my 
fellow-workers  unto  the  kingdom  of  God,  who  have  been  a 
comfort  to  me.'  Mark  well  the  words  'these  ONLY.'  How 
injurious  to  St.  Peter,  if  he  had  been  at  Rome ! " 

To  this  mighty  query  a  short  reply  will  be  sufficient. 
1.  That  St.  Peter,  being  frequently  absent  from  the  city  ot 
Rome,  might  to  the  knowledge  of  Paul  himself  have  been 
elsewhere  at  the  very  time  that  he  wrote  his  epistle ;  or 
that  Phebe,  who  perhaps  was  the  bearer  of  the  letter  to 
the  Romans,  was  to  deliver  it  to  Peter,  if  in  the  city, 
and  he  was  to  make  the  salutations.  The  omission  of  the 
name  of  Peter  is  therefore  no  evidence  that  this  was  not 
his  See.  The  same  might  be  said  of  the  omission  of  the 
names  of  other  known  prelates  in  other  epistles.  2.  That 
although  the  ordinary  successors  of  Peter  were  to  enter 
upon  his  full  rights  as  head  of  the  Church,  the  extraor- 
dinary mission  which  each  Apostle  had  specially  and  imme- 
diately from  Christ  was  not  under  Peter's  control,  but  the 
extraordinary  commission  of  each  Apostle  was  to  expire 
with  himself,  and  the  surviving  pastors  were  to  be  subor- 
dinate to  the  successor  of  Peter.  Such  is  the  testimony  of 
antiquity,  and  this  supported  by  the  testimony  of  facts,  in 
those  early  days.  Hence  there  was  no  necessity  for  any 
one  of  the  Apostles  to  apply  to  his  brother  for  a  power 
which  they  both  possessed  in  common,  viz.,  that  of  preach- 
ing and  administering  by  the  commission  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  the  whole  world.  3.  The  Jews  whom  St.  Paul  called 
to  him  at  Rome  were  those  who  did  not  belong  to  the 
'Church,  but  who  were  in  communion  with  those  who  opposed 
Paul  himself  in  the  East;  and  a  very  sufficient  reason  is 


•17  ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN  EPISCOPATE. 

found  for  his  not  calling  upon  Peter,  either  in  the  fact  of 
his  absence  from  the  city,  for  he  spread  the  faith  in  sev- 
eral other  parts  of  Italy,  and  in  other  regions  farther  West 
— or  if  he  was  in  the  city,  in  the  fact  of  his  being  most 
obnoxious  to  the  unconverted  Jews,  who  and  whose  fathers 
had  been  banished,  because  of  the  tumults  caused  by  his 
former  preaching,  about  eleven  years  before.  This  will  also 
account  for  the  mighty  word  OXLY,  without  being  an  im- 
putation upon  the  zeal  of  Peter. 

One   objection    only   remains. 

"Arrived,  for  the  second  time,  at  Rome,  A.  D.  G5  or 
66,  and  the  10th  or  llth  of  the  reign  of  Nero.  He  was 
then  put  in  so  close  a  prison  that  Onesiphorus  could 
scarcely  find  him  (2  Tim.  i,  17),  and  the  persecution  was 
so  great,  that  he  wrote  to  his  dearly  beloved  pupil,  Tim- 
othy, (2  Tim.  iv,  16),  that  'no  man  stood  with  him,  but 
all  men  forsook  him.'  Would  not  this  have  been  a  fine 
eulogy  on  St.  Peter,  if  he  had  been  at  Rome?  Let  us 
farther  observe,  that  this  Apostle,  to  whom  was  committed 
the  circumcision,  as  we  have  remarked  above,  never  wrote 
an  epistle  to  the  Romans ;  that  he  never  speaks  of  them 
in  the  two  letters  which  we  have  from  him ;  and  that,  in 
writing  the  second,  to  the  same  Churches  to  which  he  had 
written  the  first,  (2  Peter,  iii,  1),  he  speaks  to  them  as 
aware  that  he  would  shortly  quit  this  earthly  tabernacle. 
(2  Pet.  i,  14).  Let  us  finally  remark  that  St.  Peter 
although  near  his  departure  from  this  world,  salutes  the 
faithful  only  on  the  part  of  Marcus  his  son,  (1  Pet.  v, 
13),  without  speaking  of  St.  Paul,  whose  companion  iii 
martyrdom  some  would  have  him  to  be." 

St.  Peter's  eulogy  is  found  in  his  imprisonment;  and  if 
neither  Paul  nor  any  person  save  Mark  could  approach 
him,  it  accounts  for  the  omission  of  all  other  names,  if 
indeed  it  is  necessary  to  account  for  the  omission.  Mon- 
sieur Blanc,  who  ridicules  the  notion  of  Nero's  permitting 
St.  Peter  to  request  that  his  crucifixion  might  take  place 
with  his  head  downwards,  would  indeed  have  room  for  his 


ST.  PETER'S  ROMAN.  EPISCOPATE.  479- 

jocularity,  were  AVC  to  state  that  he  permitted  him  and 
Paul,  upon  the  eve  of  their  martyrdom,  to  consult  together 
upon  the  form  of  an  exhortation  of  perseverance  to  a  people 
whom  he  had  doomed  to  extermination ! 

I  have  done  with  M.  Blanc.  Allow  me  to  sum  up  my 
statements.  I  have  shown  that  there  is  nothing  in  Scrip- 
ture to  interfere  with  the  testimony  of  Peter's  having  been 
Bishop  of  Rome  and  suffering  martyrdom  in  that  city.  I 
have  shown  that  a  host  of  ancient  testimony  and  modern 
criticism  of  the  opponents  as  well  as  the  friends  of  the 
Bishops  of  Rome  sustain  the  facts.  I  have  shown  that  if 
we  reject  this  testimony  we  must  reject  the  Bible,  because 
we  receive  the  sacred  volume  only  through  similar,  I  might 
say,  the  same  witnesses.  I  have  shown  that  M.  Blanc's 
theory,  besides  contradicting  St.  Paul  and  St.  Luke,  con- 
tradicts itself,  whilst  our  statement  is  free  from  any  such 
difficulty.  I  have  shown  numerous  and  important  assertions 
of  his  to  be  contrary  to  the  fact. 


THE   IRISH   FRANCHISE.3 


i. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : — 1  have  waited  until  the  account  of 
the  failure  of  your  hopes  reached  me.  Having  now  ascer- 
tained that  the  British  House  of  Lords  has  rejected  the 
Emancipation  Bill,  I  address  myself  to  you.  To  you  who 
know  so  well  my  convictions  and  sentiments,  upon  the 
great  question  of  your  rights,  it  will  be  subject  of  little 
wonder  to  learn,  that  I  have  been  more  gratified  at  the 
failure  of  this  bill,  than  I  would  have  been  at  its  success. 
I  believe,  you  differ  with  me  in  the  conclusion,  although 
I  have  no  doubt  we  agree  in  principle.  My  object  in 
thus  publicly  addressing  you,  is  to  show  to  those  who 
may  read  what  I  publish,  in  what  we  differ,  and  where  I 
conceive  you  have  greatly  mistaken,  or  where  I  am  very 
much  in  error.  As  regards  me,  placed  where  I  now  am, 
my  views,  my  opinions,  and  my  acts  regarding  my  native 
country  are  matter  of  no  moment,  yet  still  I  will  not 
yield  to  you  in  love  of  Ireland.  Not  so  with  you ;  every 
thought,  opinion,  or  act  of  yours  is  important,  has  great 
influence,  and  in  a  certain  crisis  might  determine  the  fate 
of  Erin.  When  I  address  you  then,  I  have  in  view  to 
rouse  you,  by  our  former  tics  and  still  subsisting  friend- 
ship, to  examine  carefully  which  of  us  is  wrong;  when  I 
call  upon  you  thus  publicly  it  is  to  induce  some  of  our 
former  fellow-laborers,  from  whose  memory  my  name  is 
perhaps  not  yet  obliterated,  to  guard  their  judgments  against 
the  influence  of  your  name,  which  they  would  be  ungrateful 

'  This  series  of  loiters  was  addressed  to  D.miel  O'Conncll  by  Bishop  England, 
who,  while  in  Ireland,  was  the  Liberator's  right  hand,  remonstrating  against  the 
Irish  Statesman's  attitude  towards  the  dlsfranchi*ement  of  the  forty  shilling  free- 
holders of  Ireland  as  a  compensation  for  Catholic  Emancipation.  They  were 
published  first  in  1826. 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  481 

if  they  did  not  revere ;  but  though  you  are  my  friend 
and  their  benefactor,  your  judgment  is  not  infallible.  And 
I  trust  I  am  able  to  say  with  justice  of  myself,  "  amicus 
Plato,  amicus  Socrates,  sed  magis  arnica  Veritas."  A  further 
object  which  I  propose  to  attain  by  publishing  at  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  is,  that  as  the  question  of  Irish  wrongs 
begins  deeply  to  interest  the  people  of  America,  they  may 
be  able  to  learn  the  true  state  of  the  question,  and  not 
be  misled  by  the  garbled  extracts  which  many  of  our 
editors  make  from  the  dishonest  publications  of  the  British 
press.  You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  very  imperfect  notions 
which  men,  otherwise  extremely  well  informed,  have  of  the 
religious  and  political  state  of  Ireland. 

You  are  fully  aware  that  I  have  had  equal  opportunities 
with  most  others  of  knowing  all  the  bearings  of  the 
Catholic  question ;  that  I  had  better  opportunities  than  many 
others  of  knowing  the  state  of  the  freeholders.  I  know  their 
misfortunes,  their  temptations,  and  their  conduct.  Few  could 
know  as  well  as  I  did  what  sort  of  men  were  the  Catholic 
clergy,  and  you  and  I  have  not  unfrequently  conversed  upon 
the  subject  of  their  being  paid  salaries  by  the  crown.  The 
few  years  which  have  passed  away  since  I  sat  with  you  at 
the  same  board,  took  part  in  the  same  debates,  and  since  we 
both  habitually  made  those  topics  the  subject  of  our  anxious 
thought  and  confidential  communications,  can  not  have  pro- 
duced so  great  an  alteration  m  their  circumstances  as  to  have 
rendered  me  unfit  to  question  you  a  little  regarding  their 
present  state  and  your  late  conduct. 

There  are  three  topics  of  matter.  1.  The  relief  of  the 
Catholics.  2.  The  modification  of  the  elective  franchise. 
3.  The  payment  of  the  clergy.  There  are  four  descriptions 
of  persons  to  be  contemplated.  1.  The  Catholics  of  the 
British  Empire;  perhaps  we  had  as  well  confine  our  view 
to  those  alone  of  Ireland.  2.  The  Irish  nation,  or  rather 
the  Irish  province  of  the  British  Empire ;  fuimus  Troes. 
3.  The  government  of  Great  Britain.  4.  The  people  of  the 
British  nation. 
21 


482  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

The    papers     here    have    represented     you    as    anxious    for 
the    relief  of   the    Catholics ;     indeed    it    would    be    strange    if 
you    were    not,    it   would     be    strange    if    every    Catholic,    if 
every  lover   of  Ireland,  if  every  lover   of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,   if    every  just    man   were    not.     You    sought    it    upon 
that    principle    which    always    led    you    to    seek    it,    and    were 
I    to    make    an     unnecessary    and    profane    oath    as    did    that 
ill-advised    and    infatuated    Duke    of    York,    the    Bishop    of 
Osnaburgh,     I     could     upon  •  the     most     solemn     and     sacred 
pledge   aver    that    I   have    never    known   any  Roman   Catholic 
seek    it   upon   any  other   principle.     The   principle    is   that  of 
the    great,   good,  venerable,  liberal,    and    charitable    Protestant 
Bishop    of    Norwich ;    a   principle   which,    as    you    have    fre- 
quently   expressed   yourself,    would   give    emancipation    to    the 
Catholic    in    Great   Britain,    (let    me    add   in    North    Carolina 
and    New    Jersey),    to    the    Protestant   in    Spain,    and   to   the 
Christian   in   Constantinople.     The  principle    is    that   although 
God   will    in   another   state    of  existence   punish    the    criminal 
unbeliever,   He   has    given   to    no    man,    to    no   body  of  men, 
power   to   punish    him   in   this    present    state   of  existence  for 
mere  disbelief  of  doctrine;    but   that   He  has  left   conscience 
free    as    regards    society,    though    bound   as    regards    Himself. 
This    is    the   principle    of  religious    liberty,    not   the   principle 
of  irreligious  licentiousness.     Persecution  has  frequently  made 
hypocrites ;    I    doubt  whether    it   ever    made  a   convert.     Hy- 
pocrisy is  a  crime  of  the  highest  order,  and  though  instances 
might     be     adduced    where     persecution     made    converts,    the 
means    should    be    lawful    before    they    could    be    applied   to 
produce  the    effect. 

The  relief  bill  brought  in  by  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  which 
was  passed  by  the  British  House  of  Commons,  and  lost 
in  the  British  House  of  Lords,  was  a  bill  which  would, 
if  carried,  indeed  have  emancipated  the  Irish  Catholics  and 
brought  great  blessings  of  tranquility,  contentment,  industry, 
and  happiness  to  Ireland ;  perhaps  it  might  not  have 
answered  the  purposes  of  the  British  government,  but  it 
would  undoubtedly  have  strengthened  and  comforted  the 


THE  1UISH  FRANCHISE.  483 

British  nation.  Had  this  been  the  only  measure  contem- 
plated, every  good  man  would  have  desired  its  success  and 
would  have  regretted  its  failure.  But  to  confine  our  views 
to  this  bill  would  be  looking  at  the  question  very  imper- 
fectly; it  was  but  the  first  of  three  terms  of  a  compound 
sum :  To  the  casual  observer,  the  parts  appeared  separable, 
but  upon  closer  inspection  the  delusion  was  apparent  and 
the  crotchets  of  the  statesman  bound  them  inseparably 
together.  We  must  not  then  view  the  benefits  of  the  one 
without  examining  the  evils  of  the  others ;  the  deduction  to 
bo  made  by  the  second  quantity,  which  was  negative,  •  might 
be  greater  than  the  positive  amount  of  benefit  conferred  by 
the  first,  and  although  the  third  term  was  positive  too,  when 
examined  it  might  be«  found  to  result  in  the  bestowing  of 
positive  evil.  One  of  our  American  sages  relates  of  himself 
that  when  a  boy,  being  very  anxious  to  procure  a  whistle, 
he  thoughtlessly  gave  to  an  urchin  who  observed  his  anxiety 
considerably  more  than  its  value.  Young  Franklin  was 
amused  for  a  time  with  the  sounds,  but  when  the  charms  of 
novelty  had  vanished  and  he  had  made  some  inquiries,  he 
discovered  that  he  had  given  a  great  deal  too  much  for  his 
whistle.  Believe  me,  my  friend,  Mr.  Canning  observed  your 
anxiety,  and  he  knows  very  well  how  to  sell  a  whistle. 

The  newspapers  stated  that  you  were  favorable  to  the  bill 
for  disfranchising  the  forty  shilling  freeholders  in  the  counties, 
and  making  the  lowest  qualification  in  those  counties  ten 
pounds  yearly  freehold  interest.  AVhat  a  crowd  of  times 
and  places,  and  persons  and  conversations,  and  speeches  and 
consultations,  rushed  upon  my  mind !  I  know  what  the 
British  press  is.  I  know  one  of  its  principles  is  to  vilify, 
to  traduce,  to  calumniate,  and  to  misrepresent  you,  and 
every  one  who  stood  on  the  same  side  that  you  did,  and 
to  bepraise,  magnify,  and  extol  all  our  opponents  from  our 
positive  enemies,  the  Duke  of  York,  the  Dublin  aldermen, 
Lord  Bamlon's  little  corporation,  and  the  'prentice  boys  of 
Deny,  up  to  our  superlative  enemies,  Mr.  Canning,  and 
him  whom  it  would  delight  to  have  maces  laid  before  him 


484  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

upon  the  Irish  velvet  cushion.  Believe  me,  my  friend,  I 
felt  convinced  that  this  press,  still  nearly,  if  not  altogether 
the  same,  as  it  was  five  years  ago,  had  misrepresented 
you;  and  I  almost  felt  warranted  from  my  recollections,  to 
assure  the  editors  here,  that  there  must  have  been  some 
very  extraordinary  mistake.  My  Irish  papers  were  due 
rather  longer  than  usual ;  at  last  they  arrived.  I  found  a 
letter  of  yours,  complaining  that  you  had  been  misrep- 
resented. I  began  to  feel  satisfied.  I  took  up  another 
paper  and  I  found  what  I  sought,  John  Lawless'  letter, 
complaining,  as  I  would  have  done,  had  I  believed  as  he 
Stated.  I  looked  for  your  examination,  I  read  your  well- 
known  principles  in  your  answers,  that  you  preferred 
universal  suffrage.  I  have  seen  it  in  full  operation ;  like 
every  other  system,  it  has  its  evils ;  but  it  is  far  better 
than  I  thought  it  was  when  I  was  in  Ireland.  The 
advantages  are  greater  than  we  used  to  rate  them,  and  the 
evils  fewer  and  lesser  than  we  used  to  admit  into  our 
calculation.  I  was  pleased  when  I  found  you  speak  your 
former  sentiments.  Yet  I  found  Lawless  pertinaciously 
fastening  upon  you,  and  you  endeavoring  to  shake  him  off 
and  to  keep  the  people  quiet.  Yes !  to  keep  the  people 
quiet.  I  recollected  the  Divan.  You  cannot  forget  the 
Divan.  You  know  the  prudent  portion  of  the  natural  leaders 
induced  you  to  join  with  them  in  close  meetings,  to  do 
the  people's  business  without  the  people's  consent,  even  in 
a  manner  which  the  people  did  not  like,  against  the 
people's  will.  But  we  soon  brought  you  back  to  the  agita- 
tors ;  you  were  too  honest  to  remain  with  the  natural 
leaders.  I  must  inform  my  American  readers  that  the 
natural  leaders  were  a  number  of  Catholic  gentlemen,  whose 
fathers  had  been  more  fortunate  than  some  of  their  fellow 
Catholics  in  keeping  a  portion  of  their  property,  preserving 
their  titles  of  nobility,  or  acquiring  property,  recovering 
nobility,  or  attaining  to  baronetage,  whilst  their  less  fortu- 
nate fellow-sufferers  endured  the  loss  of  everything,  except 
their  religion  and  their  honor,  and  perhaps  their  recollee- 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  485 

tions.  The  sons  and  survivors  of  the  more  fortunate, 
though  infinitely  less  numerous  portion,  formed  a  sort  of 
Catholic  aristocracy,  and  not  content  with  being  always 
complimented  by  the  people  with  the  first  place  in  their 
affections  and  esteem,  and  preferred  to  the  men  of  sound 
sense  and  strong  nerve,  whom  the  people  made  their  asso- 
ciates, the  natural  leaders  affected  great  prudence  and 
moderation,  and  in  proportion  as  they  were  permitted  to 
visit  the  clerks  of  the  lord  lieutenant's  secretary,  they  were 
observed  to  dislike  the  agitators,  as  they  called  their  asso- 
ciates. They  at  length  withdrew  from  the  agitators ;  the 
government  presses  praised  the  natural  leaders ;  their  super- 
lative enemies,  that  is,  the  soi  disant  friends  of  the  Catholics, 
shook  hands  with  the  natural  leaders,  and  were  shocked 
at  the  rudeness  of  the  agitators.  A  few  close  meetings  of 
the  seceders  took  place;  though  you,  my  friend,  were  the 
prince  of  agitators,  you  were  induced  to  attend.  Your 
motives  were  good.  The  people  were  astonished  to  see  you 
at  those  close  meetings  which  they  called  the  Divan.  Indeed, 
if  my  recollection  serves  me  right,  you  told  me  you  scarcely 
were  conscious  of  your  personal  identity  at  those  meetings. 
But  you  discovered  that  their  principles  and  ours  were 
essentially  at  variance.  We  both  sought  emancipation ;  this 
was  the  object  of  the  agitator,  this  was  the  object  of  the 
natural  leader.  But  we  disagreed  in  this :  the  agitator 
would  give  nothing  but  gratitude  and  loyalty  to  the  govern- 
ment which  would  do  him  justice;  the  natural  leader 
would  give  something  else.  The  one  begged  for  his  right 
as  a  boon,  and  would  be  grateful  for  what  would  be 
accorded.  He  said :  "  All  is  due,  but  I  shall  be  grateful 
for  anything  which  you  bestow ;  you  shall  have  my  fidelity 
and  my  thanks ;  I  have  no  more  to  give."  The  other 
asked  in  the  same  way,  but  added :  "  Besides  fidelity  and 
gratitude,  I  am  ready  to  go  as  far  as  I  can,  in  taking 
something  from  popular  rights,  and  adding  this  to  the 
prerogative  of  the  crown." 

You    could    not   betray   your    country,    you   would    not    do 
this.     One    or  two   of  our  little    poets  sung;    you   recognized 


486  TUE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

the  notes;  your  soul  became  enamored  with  the  melody; 
you  fluttered  round  your  cage ;  you  found  an  aperture, 
and  we  soon  heard  you  warbling  your  harmonious  effusions, 
full  of  life  and  joy  and  the  pride  of  liberty,  in  our  own 
green  bower.  These  days,  my  friends,  were  days  of  trial, 
but  they  were  days  of  pleasure,  too.  My  eye  fills,  my 
heart  grows  soft,  and  I  fancy  myself  thousands  of  miles 
hence,  when  memory  brings  me  back  amongst  you.  I  recol- 
lect the  cold  prudery  of  the  heartless  Judge  Downes,  when 
lie  committed  murder  upon  Irish-English,  and  solemnly  told 
a  jury,  upon  his  oath,  that  pretence  and  purpose  were 
synonymous  in  Ireland,  and  a  Dublin  jury  swore  that  his 
lordship's  inconsistencies  were  good  grammar ;  though  you 
know  the  jury  was  a  selection  of  your  beggarly  Dublin 
corporation,  who  would  not  have  committed  .  even  a  venial 
sin,  in  the  breach  of  every  rule  of  Louth's  grammar, 
because  "  nemo  tcnetur  ad  impossible."  I  recollect  Lord 
Manner's  solemn  visage.  Even  Mr.  Sauriu  glides  before 
my  eye  in  the  domination  of  ascendancy,  in  the  semblance 
of  evangelical  meekness ;  but  his  distended  bag  yawns  like 
the  insatiable  grave,  and  desires  to  bring  down  all  that 
dared  to  aspire  to  freedom,  into  the  same  prison-house 
with  the  beggar  and  the  vagrant,  and  the  thief  and  the 
felon,  to  prove  that  all  men  are  equal ;  and  that  the  law 
i.i  just  which  says,  that  he  who  will  not  swear  what  he 
does  not  believe,  shall  be  persecuted,  whilst  the  perjurer 
shall  be  his  judge.  Yes,  in  all  this  there  is  a  comfort 
which  no  one  can  describe ;  but  which  the  victim  of  such 
men  feels.  Yon,  and  I,  and  our  associates,  have  felt  it, 
when  in  the  disquisition  of  our  wrongs  we  measured  how 
far  principle  extended,  and  drew  our  line  beyond  which 
no  one  was  to  go,  within  which  no  -stranger  was  to  be 
admitted.  Each  of  us  was  to  be  prepared  for  his  dun- 
geon, because  no  one  of  us  knew  who  would  be  its  first 
tenant.  And  the  triumvirate  to  which  I  have  alluded,  together 
with  Mr.  Peel,  charitably  intended  its  benefit  for  us  all. 
In  such  a  time  as  this,  Daniel  O'Connell  was  teaching  me 


THE  1RISII  FRANCHISE.  487 

the  nature  of  feudal  tenure,  the  origin  of  freehold,  the 
mode  in  which  it  might  be  acquired,  secured,  and  extended. 
When  our  vessel  was  just  settling  down  upon  the  quiescent 
sea,  the  storm  having  wasted  its  fury,  the  waves  having 
nearly  subsided ;  when  our  flags  and  sails  and  smaller 
cordage  had  been  torn  from  our  masts,  and  those  masts 
themselves  had  been  kept  in  their  place,  only  by  the 
newly  acquired  bracings  of  the  elective  franchise,  what 
would  Daniel  O'Connell  have  said  to  the  man  who  would 
request  of  him  an  axe,  that  he  might  cut  away  some  of 
those  shrouds  and  stays,  which  had  withstood  the  fury  of 
the  tempest,  in  which  our  royals  and  topgallants  had  been 
blown  away  ? 

You  told  the  committee  that  you  preferred  universal  suf- 
frage. Granted  ;  but  when  you  found  your  superlative  ene- 
mies about  to  give  Catholic  emancipation  and  to  diminish 
popular  rights,  and  when  the  vigilant  Lawless  called  upon 
the  people  to  protect  their  rights,  you  told  the  people  to 
be  quiet.  I  repeat,  this  reminds  me  of  the  Divan.  I  can- 
not reconcile  it  with  your  duty,  with  your  character. 

II. 

I  assume  that  you  knew  the  bill  to  disfranchise  the  forty 
shilling  freeholders  in  counties  would  be  brought  into  the 
British  legislature  if  the  emancipation  bill  were  introduced; 
and  that  if  the  latter  was  enacted,  so  would  the  former. 
I  assume  that  you  were  not  only  silent  yourself,  but  that 
when  our  friend  Lawless  called  upon  the  people  to  resist 
this  bill,  you  told  the  people  to  be  quiet.  I  assume,  there- 
fore, that  you  considered  Catholic  emancipation  to  be  of 
more  value  than  the  possession  of  the  elective  franchise  in 
the  counties  by  forty  shilling  freeholders,  even  as  they  are 
now  constituted.  In  thus  stating  the  case  I  give  you  all 
the  advantage,  because  I  candidly  believe  you  did  say  that 
the  forty  shilling  franchise  as  now  held  in  the  counties, 
was  an  evil ;  and  that  if  no  emancipation  were  to  be 
granted,  it  would  be  right  to  change  the  qualification.  I 


488  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

differ  with  you  upon  two  points.  First,  I  believe  the  loss 
of  the  franchise  would  be  a  greater  evil  than  would  be 
compensated  for  by  any  species  of  emancipation,  even  simple 
repeal,  which  would  be  the  most  perfect.  Secondly,  I  do 
look  upon  the  possession  of  the  forty  shilling  franchise  in 
counties,  as  now  it  exists,  to  be  a  greater  good  than  the 
modification  to  ten  pound  qualification. 

The  solution  of  the  first  difficulty  will  principally  depend 
upon  the  decision  regarding  the  second  question.  We  will 
therefore  take  that  question  first.  You  know  better  than 
I  can  express,  the  vast  difference  between  theory  and  practice. 
Originally  the  distinction,  in  Great  Britain,  between  free- 
hold, and  chattel,  and  copyhold  estate,  had  in  it  something 
intelligible  to  even  a  plain  mind.  The  copyholder  was  a 
villain ;  the  cultivator  of  the  soil  who,  during  a  certain 
number  of  years,  paid  his  rent  for  the  leave  to  cultivate 
and  take  away  the  produce,  was  little  better.  Neither  of 
those  Avas  tho  freeman  of  Magna  Charta.  The  first  was 
but  another  modification  of  what  I  see  here  every  day 
amongst  our  colored  population.  But  the  man  who  held 
the  benefice,  during  life,  and  by  service  becoming  a  free- 
man, was  the  freeholder.  During  his  life  he  held  and 
used  his  benefice. 

Long  since,  however,  scutage  was  substituted  for  free 
service;  and  as  this  scutage  was  a  payment  in  money  or 
its  equivalent,  the  distinction  between  the  mode  of  pay- 
ment for  the  lands  held  by  the  freeholder,  the  copyholder, 
and  the  holder  of  real  chattel,  has  vanished.  Thus,  the 
premises  are  destroyed,  and  Great  Britain,  by  one  of  her 
legal  fictions,  lays  the  foundation  of  her  elective  franchise 
upon  an  illusion,  an  absurdity,  viz.,  a  supposition  against 
fact.  I  now  ask  you  in  sober  sadness,  when  the  law  is 
founded  in  such  fiction,  can  you  reconcile  the  consequences 
of  this  fiction  to  reasonable  fact?  You  must  expect  prac- 
tical folly  t.T  be  the  consequence  of  such  fiction.  Hence, 
you  must  not  look  for  anything  reasonable  in  the  British 
mode  of  voting.  The  distribution  of  the  right  to  vote  is 
capricious,  the  result  of  fiction,  absurdity,  and  injustice. 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE,  489 

You  will  be  able  to  judge  how  I  recollect  your  lessons, 
when  you  shall  have  read  my  explanation  of  Irish  free- 
holds for  my  American  friends ;  and  laying  aside  the  legal 
technicality,  inform  them  of  what  is  actually  the  state  of 
things ;  so  that  by  their  knowing  exactly  what  an  Irish 
freeholder  is,  they  may  be  able  to  determine  whether  the 
disfranchisement  of  the  forty  shilling  freeholder  would  be 
an  evil  or  .a  benefit;  to  whom  it  would  be  useful,  to 
whom  it  would  be  injurious. 

In  Ireland,  formerly,  lands  were  held  by  tanistry.  The 
tanist,  or  chief  of  a  clan,  held  all  the  land  belonging  to 
the  clan.  He  distributed  offices,  and  gave  to  the  officers 
certain  portions  of  the  common  stock.  When  the  English, 
partly  by  fraud  and  partly  by  force,  got  possession  of  the 
land,  they  abolished  the  custom  of  tanistry,  and  held  the 
land  from  the  kings  of  England,  according  to  the  Norman 
fashion.  This  Norman  fashion,  which  was  the  feudal  cus- 
tom of  Normandy,  was  introduced  into  England  by  Wil- 
liam the  Conqueror  in  1060.  We  have,  then,  to  see  its 
nature.  All  the  land  was  vested  in  the  king.  He  gave 
it  in  parcels  to  his.  dukes,  marquises,  earls,  viscounts,  and 
barons,  upon  the  condition  that  each  of  those  would  do 
him  a  service  becoming  a  man  of  his  condition;  and  so 
long  as  he  or  any  of  his  heirs  male  could  be  found  who 
would  do  his  duty,  the  freehold  was  to  vest  in  such 
males  descendant;  but  should  there  be  no  male  descendant 
of  the  original  grantee  capable  of  doing  duty,  the  land 
was  to  revert  to  the  king — that  is,  was  to  be  escheated 
or  to  go  into  his  fisc  or  treasury,  until  the  king  should 
give  it  to  another  who  would  do  that  duty.  The  duty 
was  such  as  became  a  man,  and  this  was  the  reason  that 
the  descent  was  confined  to  the  males. 

Upon  the  abolishment  of  tanistry  in  Ireland,  this  feudal 
title  was  established.  The  possessions  were  generally  large, 
and  the  service  light ;  and  the  person  holding  thus  was 
said  to  hold  of  the  crown  or  as  in  fee.  Thus,  holding  as 
in  fee  was  very  different  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  allodial 


490  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

tenure ;  because  the  Saxon,  who  held  by  allodial  tenure, 
was  the  true  owner  of  the  soil  —  but  the  Anglo-Norniau, 
who  held  as  in  fee,  was  in  fact  a  tenant  of  the  crown,  and 
the  king  was  the  real  owner  of  the  land.  These  dukes  or 
leaders,  marquises  or  wardens — that  is,  guardians — of  the 
marches,  or  frontier  lands,  earls,  viscounts  or  lieutenants  of 
the  king's  companions,  and  barons  or  lesser  lords,  were 
called  pares  or  equal — that  is,  peers.  In  their  own  right 
they  sat  together  with  the  king  in  his  court ;  they 
were  his  council.  But  the  services  required  from  some  of 
them  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  demand  the  •  united 
exertions  of  many  men ;  and  those,  men  of  free  condition. 
One  of  the  principal  services  was  that  of  war;  and  many 
of  the  warriors  required  were  to  be  horsemen,  equites, 
knights,  with  armigers  or  esquires.  To  insure  the  attend- 
ance of  such  persons  so  as  to  enable  him  to  do  his  duty 
to  the  king,  the  peer  divided  his  estate  into  parcels ;  one 
portion  he  kept  for  his  own  domain ;  he  then  had  several 
parcels,  each  a  knight's  fee,  or  sufficient  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  knight  and  his  proper  number  of  esquires ;  their 
service  during  life  was  the  payment  for  their  land.  Hence, 
they  held  by  free  service,  the  land  was  called  a  benefice, 
they  were  called  freeholders.  But  if  the  peer  wished  to 
have  his  domain  cultivated,  in  order  to  furnish  neces- 
saries for  his  castle,  villani,  villains,  who  never  went  to 
war,  but  who,  dwelling  in  villages,  cultivated  ground,  were 
employed  to  do  this.  The  peer,  not  caring  to  be  troubled 
with  looking  after  them,  fixed  with  each  what  yearly 
contribution  was  expected  from  him ;  the  villain  paid  this, 
and  all  that  he  gained  over  this  was  his  own.  Sometimes 
a  bargain  was  made  with  the  villain  for  a  certain  number 
of  years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  this  term,  his  lease 
having  run  out,  lie  had  no  claim  to  a  renewal.  Some- 
times the  sum  was  fixed,  and  to  continue  so,  each  party 
being  bound  for  a  certain  number  of  years ;  but  a  copy  of 
the  forms  to  be  gone  through  for  a  renewal  was  exhibited 
in  the  office  of  the  seneschal  or  steward  of  the  peer;  and 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  491 

the  tenant  conforming  to  the  directions  of  that  copy,  was 
c-ntitled  to  a  renewal ;  this  was  the  copyholder  of  England. 
The  difference  between  the  mere  villain  and  the  copyholder 
consisted  in  this,  that  when  the  villain's  term  expired,  he 
had  no  right  of  prior  claim ;  but  the  copyholder  had  a 
right  of  preference  to  any  other,  if  he  conformed  to  the 
customs  according  to  the  copy.  Each  peer  made  what 
customs  he  pleased,  and  thus  the  copies  were  always 
different  upon  different  estates,  sometimes  different  upon 
several  parcels  of  the  same  estate. 

The'  customs  were  said  to  be  the  will  of  the  lord ;  and 
the  lord's  will  was  construed  to  be,  whether  he  would  or 
no,  in  conformity  to  the  copy  in  the  office  of  his  seneschal, 
n  duplicate  of  which  the  tenant  held.  But  this  could  not 
come  down  later  than  the  first  of  Richard  I,  which  was 
fixed  by  common  usage  as  the  period  previous  to  which 
the  barrigy  right  of  the  copyholder  stands  good.  Subse- 
quently to  this,  no  copyholder  could  establish  a  new  claim. 
Thus,  in  Ireland,  especially  outside  the  pale,  there  could 
be  no  copyhold.  In  fact,  I  believe  there  is  not,  and  cannot 
be,  a  copyholder  in  Ireland. 

The  other  freeholder  imitated  the  peer  frequently  in 
letting  his  ground,  or  part  of  it,  to  a  villain,  for  a  certain 
yearly  rent.  And  thus  we  now  perceive  that,  after  some 
time,  there  were :  the  peer  who  held  of  the  king,  the 
knight  who  generally  held  of  the  peer,  but  sometimes  of 
the  king  himself,  the  esquire,  who  generally  held  of  the 
knight,  though  sometimes  immediately  of  the  king  or  of 
the  peer.  The  peer  was  the  king's  hereditary  counsellor ; 
the  knight  and  the  esquire  were  also  freeholders.  Those 
who  held  as  knights  or  esquires,  held  during  life,  and 
could  not  alienate  their  -land,  but  could  let  it  to  be  cul- 
tivated at  a  certain  rent  for  one  or  more  years.  To  hold 
and  use  the  land  during  their  lives  was  in  them,  but  they 
had  not  dominion  of  the  land.  It  was  to  them  a  benefice, 
not  allodial  possession.  The  cultivator  of  the  soil  who  paid 
a  yearly  sum  to  the  freeholder  could  not  give  a  freehold 


492  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

title ;  but  he  might  let  or  sell  the  chattel  which  he  had, 
viz.,  a  right  during  a  certain  number  of  years  to  culti- 
vate the  soil  without  impoverishing  the  freehold,  and  to  take 
away  all  the  produce  when  he  had  paid  the  freeholder  the 
sum  agreed  upon. 

After  some  time,  the  British  kings  preferred  raising  stand- 
ing armies,  which  they  paid,  to  calling  upon  the  peers  to 
furnish  men ;  and  they  commuted  the  service  by  men  into 
a  service  by  money.  The  peers  also  got  from  the  knights 
and  esquires,  money  instead  of  service.  Thus,  all  land 
held  by  deed  for  one  or  more  lives  is  freehold,  but  no 
land  held  for  a  term  of  years  is  freehold ;  for  the  man 
who  holds  a  copy,  or  for  a  term  of  yoars,  is  still  con- 
sidered as  a  villain.  His  property,  even  if  it  should 
amount  to  £50,000  per  annum,  is  chattel ;  but  a  free- 
holder has  a  more  honorable  tenure.  The  right  of  voting 
was,  in  feudal  times,  confined,  so  far  as  regarded  landed 
property,  to  the  freeholder,  and  so  it  continues.  \Ye  have, 
my  friend,  often  spoken  of  the  folly  and  the  absurdity  of 
this  custom.  But  we  shall  soon  see  some  of  its  cruel 
injustice. 

In  process  of  time  the  great  landed  proprietors  leased 
out  the  principal  portion  of  their  lands  for  rents  in  money. 
A  peer  who  held  perhaps  forty  thousand  acres,  kept  one 
thousand  for  his  demesne :  his  tenants  occupied  the  remain- 
ing thirty-nine  thousand  acres.  Much  of  this  was  leased 
out  to  rich  persons,  who,  when  the  peer  wanted  money, 
gave  him  a  considerable  fine,  and  were  charged  with  only 
a  low  rent.  If  the  person  who  paid  the  fine  desired,  as 
he  generally  did,  to  have  a  freehold,  he  got  a  title  during 
lives,  renewable  forever,  upon  the  payment  of  a  trifling 
sum  at  each  renewal.  This  was  equivalent  to  perpetuity, 
but  it  left  the  property  vested  in  the  peer,  and  gave  a 
perpetual  benefice  to  the  tenant,  who  always  had,  by  virtue 
of  his  covenant,  an  indefeasible  claim  to  the  renewal  upon 
the  performance  of  the  original  stipulation.  Thus  the  quan- 
tity of  freehold  property  in  Ireland  would  have  been  im- 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  493 

mense  had  there  been  no  check  put  to  its  acquisition, 
because  most  all  the  land  had  been  confiscated  and  granted, 
as  in  fee  simple,  to  new  possessors  subsequently  to  this 
change  of  service  into  rent :  and  persons  taking  from  those 
who  held  as  in  fee  simple,  would  have  preferred  a  free- 
hold to  a  chattel  interest.  Besides  several  advantages  in  a 
pecuniary  point  of  view,  the  right  to  vote  for  members  to 
serve  in  parliament,  and  at  the  election  of  coroners,  was 
attached  thereto.  You  know,  however,  the  manner  in  which 
Catholics  were  prevented  from  obtaining  their  fair  share  of 
this  species  of  property ;  this  I  shall  afterwards  examine. 
After  some  time  freeholders  were  classed  according  to  the 
value  of  their  freeholds.  1.  Those  who  had  an  interest 
worth  fifty  pounds  a  year  or  upwards.  2.  Those  who  pos- 
sessed an  interest  of  twenty  pounds  a  year,  but  less  than 
fifty.  3.  Those  who  possessed  an  interest  of  forty  shillings, 
but  not  twenty  pounds  yearly.  To  these  were  to  be  added 
rent-chargers,  that  is,  persons  who,  by  a  covenant,  were 
entitled  to  claim  a  sum  of  money,  yearly,  from  a  freehold 
during  a  life  or  lives :  for  this,  too,  was  a  benefice,  the 
claim  must  be  upon  the  freehold,  not  upon  the  freeholder ; 
and  the  amount  of  the  rent-charge  must  be  deducted  from 
the  value  of  the  freehold,  and  the  other  charges  to  which 
it  is  liable  must  be  subtracted  before  the  freehold  can  be 
rated  and  classed.  The  law  finally  regulated  that  no  rent- 
charger  could  vote  except  he  possessed,  at  least,  a  claim 
for  twenty  pounds  yearly;  and  no  freeholder,  except  he 
had  a  clear  yearly  interest  of  forty  shillings  at  the  least, 
above  all  charges  payable  out  of  his  freehold;  it  also 
required  that  he  should  produce  his  title  in  an  open  court 
of  magistrates  once  in  seven  years,  and  that  the  rent- 
charger  should  produce  his  title  in  like  manner,  and  the 
freeholder  make  affidavit  of  the  nature  of  his  mode  of 
tenure,  whether  by  dwelling  upon,  by  tilling,  or  by  grazing, 
and  that  he  did  not  procure  his  title  fraudulently,  nor  in 
exchange  for  a  freehold  in  any  other  county.  The  clerk 
of  the  court  endorsed  the  deed  so  produced,  and  registered 


-194  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

it,  and  the  freeholder  was  not  permitted  to  vote  until  after 
the  expiration  of  twelve  months,  and  he  was  then  liable  to 
be  examined  upon  oath  as  to  all  the  facts  and  the  con- 
tinuance of  their  truth,  and  as  to  his  not  having  been 
bribed  or  led  to  expect  aiiy  reward  for  his  vote.  Neither 
the  twenty  or  fifty  pound  freeholders  wTere  required  to  pro- 
duce their  title-deeds,  but  the  former  should  renew  their 
registry  once  in  seven  years.  They  could  also  vote  in  six 
months  after  registry.  You  and  every  man  who  knows  Ire- 
land, knows  and  laments  that  many  of  the  forty  shilling 
freeholders  are  manufactured  Tor  elections  and  brought  up 
to  register  without  getting  possession  of  their  title-deeds : 
the  landlord's  agent  takes  good  care  to  pay  the  fees,  and 
to  take  up  certificates,  and  exhibit  title-deeds  and  all  other 
documents,  which  he  then  keeps,  and  hurries  those  creatures 
through  complex  affidavits  which  they  do  not  understand, 
and  drives  them  up,  in  like  manner,  to  vote  for  they 
know  not  whom.  You  complain  of  this  as  an  evil, 
and  think  it  would  serve  the  cause  of  morality  and  of 
liberty  to  make  the  qualification  ten  pounds,  instead  of 
forty  shillings.  Perhaps  you  are  right,  but  I  believe  you 
are  not.  The  question  is  two-fold :  first,  as  regards  moral- 
ity; next,  as  regards  the  purity  of  representation.  You  must 
forgive  me  for  the  profanation  of  the  phrase,  I  shall  exam- 
ine the  question  presently.  Meantime  I  shall  describe  to 
my  American  friends  a  scene  to  which  I  was  witness  on 
one  of  those  days  of  registry. 

Several  forty  shilling  freeholders  had  consulted  me,  and 
I  was  examining  their  titles  to  know  if  they  could,  with 
a  safe  conscience,  take  the  registry  oath.  Next  came  on  the 
Catholic's  oath  of  allegiance,  which  I  had  no  difficulty  to 
tell  them  might  be  taken  by  every  Catholic  who  desired 
to  maintain  the  constitution  and  uphold  the  king  upon  the 
throne.  I  observed  one  man,  rather  nged,  who  looked  a 
little  serious  as  the  clerk  proceeded  to  read  that  part  of 
the  oath  which  abjures  the  king-killing  doctrine;  which 
asserts  that  the  Pope's  infallibility  is  not  an  article  of 


TEE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  495 

faith ;  that  no  man  is  bound  to  perform  a  wicked  act, 
though  commanded  by  the  Church';  that  no  man  can  be 
forgiven  his  sins  by  any  Pope  or  priest,  at  the  mere  will 
of  such  Pope  or  priest,  but  contrition  and  restitution  are 
absolutely  required ;  the  first  for  all  sinners,  the  last  for 
those  who  have  been  dishonest.  Here  he  looked  quite 
religious  and  sentimental ;  at  the  conclusion  he  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  took  the  oath,  held  the  pen  for  his 
signature  with  great  reverence,  bent  his  knee  to  the  jus- 
tices, and  bowed  to  the  clerks.  A  friend  of  his  asked 
him  what  he  thought  of  the  place.  "  I  never  was  in  a 
court  before,"  said  he,  "and  always  feared  to  come,  because 
I  was  told  it  was  the  devil's  house,  and  that  all  the 
lawyers  were  his  children;  that  .the  judges  were  great  but 
very  bad  men,  sent  by  the  king  to  hang  and  transport 
Catholics  whenever  they  could  find  any  law  for  it,  but  to 
let  all  the  Protestants  go  free,  whatever  they  might  have 
done.  But  I  find  it  was  all  my  mistake ;  a  court  is  just 
as  good  a  place  as  a  chapel :  and  I  cannot  observe  any 
difference  in  the  sermons  you  will  get  here  and  from 
Father  B —  — ,  except  the  difference  between  English  and 
Irish,  and  between  reading  from  a  parchment  and  speaking 
without  it.  God  Almighty  bless  that  fine  looking  gentle- 
man over ;  'tis  very  well  his  gray  head  becomes  him ;  why 
I  am  sure  they  told  me  he  was  a  Protestant ;  but  this, 
too,  must  be  a  mistake,  because  he  told  me  how  to  go 
to  confession,  and  to  mind  the  priest  and  the  bishop  and  the 
Pope ;  but  the  bishop  himself  never  told  us  better  things 
about  confession,  and  absolution,  and  contrition,  and  satisfac- 
tion; and  the  justices  took  care  the  sermon  should  do  me 
good,  for  they  bid  him  watch  to  see  whether  I  would  kiss 
the  book." 

I  was  greatly  struck  at  the  number  of  mistakes  which 
the  poor  man  made,  yet  he  actually  spoke  r.s  he  thought. 
T\vo  things  only  he  knew  plainly:  that  by  swearing  the 
oath  of  allegiance  he  bound  himself  to  be  loyal,  and  that 
his  loyalty  to  a  Protestant  king  was  not  incompatible  with 
his  faith  as  a  lloman  Catholic. 


496  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

III. 

You  would  not  convict  of  perjury  the  poor  man  who 
mistook  for  a  sermon  the  abjuration  of  the  calumnies  with 
which  we  are  assailed,  and  three  good  justices  of  the  county 
of  the  city  of  Cork  for  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  respect- 
able clerk  of  the  peace  for  a  preacher ;  and  a  Roman 
Catholic  preacher  too.  Now  I  ask  you  which  of  the  two 
is  a  plainer  oath :  the  oath  of  the  Catholic's  allegiance 
together  with  its  appendant  declarations,  or  the  oath  of  a 
forty  shilling  freeholder?  I  fear  you  will  find  by  my  last 
letter  that  I  have  not  done  my  teacher  much  credit  by  my 
exhibition.  I  was  a  forty  shilling  freeholder ;  I  believe  I 
knew  as  much  as  most  of  the  same  class  of  electors 
respecting  the  nature  of  my  title  to  register  and  to  vote ; 
yet  this  oath  was  really  one  of  terror  and  of  complexity. 
If  I  recollect  rightly  there  were  not  less  than  a  dozen 
different  propositions  to  be  distinctly  sworn  to  by  a  forty 
shilling  freeholder,  and  I  have  more  than  once  found  the 
gentlemen  of  the  long  robe  seriously  puzzled  to  make  out 
the  exact  meaning  of  some  of  the  passages.  I  recollect  the 
words  of  one  part  of  the  oath,  "  nor  have  I  procured  it 
(the  freehold)  fraudulently,  nor  has  it  been  granted  fraud- 
ulently to  me,"  in  some  few  of  the  printed  affidavits,  by 
a  mistake  of  the  corrector  of  the  press  the  words  "to  me" 
were  omitted.  A  contested  election  came  on  in  1812;  the 
candidate  for  whom  I  voted,  lost  his  seat  by  a  deficit  of 
30  votes.  But  had  those  defective  affidavits  been  admitted 
he  would,  I  believe,  have  been  the  sitting  member.  A 
very  protracted  debate  took  place  before  the  assessor  of 
the  returning  officer,  in  which  it  was  contended  that  all 
the  grants,  and  of  course  the  grant  to  the  occupant,  were 
procured  by  the  grantee ;  that  if  it  was  not  procured  by 
him  fraudulently,  it  could  not  have  been  granted  fraud- 
ulently to  him  by  the  grantor :  yet  the  decision  was 
against  us;  and  I  am  disposed  to  say  correctly  and  legally. 
I  ask  how  is  it  possible  to  teach  all  the  technical  legal 


THE   HUSH  FRANCHISE.  497 

distinctions  of  this  affidavit  to  the  general  body  of  small 
farmers  and  laborers  who  are  county  freeholders  ?  I  have 
doubts  but  its  expressions  would  puzzle  Sir  William  Curtis, 
or  even  a  Dublin  alderman,  whom  it  would  be  at  least 
petit  treason  to  disfranchise. 

The  complexity  of  the  oath  might  give  a  well-trained, 
acute  lawyer  more  exact  ideas  of  the  precise  qualification ; 
but  it  operates  quite  in  a  different  way  with  the  general 
body  of  the  people.  The  multiplicity  of  terms  and  their 
legal  precision  create  a  difficulty  of  arriving  at  the  precise 
meaning.  Thus,  a  great  many  persons  take  the  oath  with  a 
general  impression  of  their  right  to  do  so,  but  without  a 
special  knowledge  of  the  exact  foundation  of  that  right.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  countenance  loose  swearing,  but  equally  far 
be  it  from  me  to  assert  that  all  who  swear  thus  are  corrupt 
perjurers.  Many  persons  who  swear  thus  hope  they  are  right, 
but  fear  they  are  wrong,  and  with  the  instinctive  sagacity  of 
their  character,  and  in  full  accordance  with  nature,  when 
questioned  by  others  in  an  ambiguous  manner,  they  will 
quibble  to  protect  themselves ;  their  fears  increase,  and  they 
will  perhaps  endeavor  to  escape  the  imputation  of  perjury  by 
the  commission  of  falsehood.  This  is  a  lamentable  state  of 
things,  but  it  is  not  extensive,  deliberate,  corrupt,  wilful 
perjury.  A  grsat  remedy  would  be,  making  the  expressions 
less  complex ;  a  man  would  then  know  what  he  was  called 
upon  to  swear. 

Now,  my  friend,  let  me  remind  you  of  another  circum- 
stance, which  will  operate  greatly  in  favor  of  the  freeholders' 
integrity.  Thousands  of  the  forty  shilling  freeholders  who 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  understand  English,  are  sworn  through  the 
medium  of  an  interpreter.  Their  language  is  not  that  of 
Lord  Chatham ;  it  is  the  .remnant  of  an  older  and  once 
a  richer  tongue,  though  we  trace  now  but  the  indistinct 
shade  of  where  two  centuries  since  a  deep  shadow  was 
distinctly  marked.  It  is  still  abundantly  sufficient  for  all 
the  business  of  your  peasantry,  the  lively  repartee  of  their 
pungent  wit,  such  as  the  peasantry  of  no  other  nation  had. 

33 


498  TEE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

And  that  peasantry  is  enslaved.  It  is,  and  I  know  it, 
fully  adequate  to  the  most  glowing  description,  the  most 
clear  elucidation  and  the  most  pathetic  appeals  of  religion. 
The  harp  can  even  now  with  its  torn  strings  swell  the 
terrific  commands  of  the  God  of  Sinai,  louder  than  the 
pealing  burst,  which  rolled  in  thunder  round  the  summit 
of  the  awful  mount,  and  imitate  also  with  its  soothing 
strains,  the  voice  of  Him  who  told  His  own  history,  when 
He  related  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan.  Yes !  my 
friend,  and  well  you  know  the  truth  of  what  I  assert.  It 
was  not  in  Romaic  that  Demosthenes  roused  the  feelings 
of  his  hearers,  but  perhaps  a  Romaic  tongue  now  rekindles 
Grecian  fires :  it  was  not  in  Romaic  that  Homer  sung ; 
but  perhaps  some  Romaic  bard  now  feeds  the  sacred  flame. 
Shall  it  be  imputed  as  a  crime  to  the  Irish  peasant  that 
though  stript  of  his  franchise,  he  preferred  the  tongue  of 
his  fathers  to  the  tongue  of  his  oppressor,  who  stript  him 
first  of  his  lands,  next  of  his  character,  then  gave  him 
the  alternative  of  surrendering  his  franchise  or  his  religion? 
Your  ancestor  and  mine  gave  up  the  franchise ;  we  regained 
it  without  injury  to  our  religion.  And  will  you,  my  friend, 

now — .     No!  I  will  not  write  it.    Still,  still,  you 

are  Daniel  O'Connell;  I  will  pledge  my  life  for  your  integ- 
rity. But  I  will  not,  I  cannot  blind  my  short-sighted  judg- 
ment. It  is  imperfect :  but  it  is  nature  to  prize  greatly  that 
with  which  we  are  not  too  abundantly  gifted.  Nature  will 
excuse  my  obstinate  adherence  to  my  own  views,  and  as  I 
love  the  land  of  my  fathers,  I  am  prompted  to  publish  my 
opinion  to  be  weighed  as  it  deserves  by  those  who  may  deign 
to  read.  Forgive  me  this  digression.  You  say  "  the  forty 
shilling  freeholder  must  be  disfranchised,  because  he  is  a 
perjurer."  How  many  chances  are  there  of  mistake  in  the 
complex  nature  of  his  affidavit ;  in  his  ignorance  of  the 
origin  and  nature  of  freehold  right,  and  why  is  it  privi- 
leged over  chattel  interest ;  in  the  medium  through  which 
lie  is  sworn  with  an  interpreter  who  understands  one 
language  imperfectly,  and  speaks  the  other  worse,  a  sort 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  499 

of  hedge-attorney,  perhaps,  who  might  know  how  to  get 
through  the  common  routine  of  sessions'  practice  by  his 
knowledge  of  law  as  trade,  though  ignorant  of  it  as  a 
science?  The  peasant  knows  that  he  has  a  deed,  conveying 
to  him  ground  at  a  reduced  rent.  Like  the  woman  in  the 
Eastern  tale,  who  was  to  spurn  the  caliph  from  her  feet, 
after  she  would  have  realized  an  immense  fortune  from 
her  basket  of  glass,  by  multiplied  sales  and  increasing 
profits,  his  imagination  anticipates  the  mighty  profits  arising 
from  an  acre  of  potato  ground,  half  an  acre  of  wheat,  half 
an  acre  of  oats,  a  patch  of  flax,  and  the  cabin.  In  the 
moment  of  this  reverie,  you  would  as  soon  lead  him  to 
swear  bona  fide  that  it  was  worth  ten  pounds  yearly,  as 
that  it  was  worth  forty  shillings. 

The  landlord,  while  inducing  him  to  register,  is  kind 
and  indulgent,  grunts  the  leave  of  the  bog  for  cutting  turf, 
the  use  of  a  horse  to  assist  in  ploughing,  and  does  a 
thousand  acts  of  civility  which  are  all  worth  at  least  five 
pounds  yearly  to  him,  should  they  be  continued,  as  he 
hopes  they  would.  You  or  I  would  not,  perhaps,  believe 
he  has  an  interest  in  it.  His  state  is  deplorable,  but  he  is 
not  a  corrupt  perjurer.  He  is  urged  to  register  by  his 
landlord,  by  the  attorney,  and  by  his  own  feelings.  He 
persuades  himself  that  he  is  fully  qualified. 

But  I  have  given  you  the  advantage  hitherto.  I  must 
begin  to  make  somo  entries  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
book.  There  is  a  great  host  of  forty  shilling  freeholders 
in  the  towns  which  are  in  those  counties.  Generally  speak- 
ing, they  are  intelligent  and  patriotic;  they  know  the  rights 
and  duties  of  freeholders,  and  they  love  their  country; 
they  could  not  be  ten  pound  freeholders,  not  for  want  of 
property,  but  for  want  of  freehold.  They  have  abundance 
of  chattel,  but  very  little  freehold.  Allow  me  to  enumerate  : 
There  are  thirty-two  counties  in  Ireland ;  in  these,  there 
are,  if  I  recollect  rightly,  but  five  cities  which  would 
retain,  by  the  intended  bill,  the  qualification  of  forty  shilling 
freeholders  to  vote.  Those  cities  would  soon  lose  it  by 


500  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

analogy,  if  they  would  not  lose  it  by  trick,  upon  the  third 
reading.  In  those  counties,  there  are  several  large  towns 
containing  from  five  thousand  to  twenty  thousand  inhabitants 
each.  All  the  forty  shilling  freeholders  in  those  towns, 
containing,  perhaps,  nearly  a  million  of  souls,  are  to  be 
disfranchised  because  of  perjury  and  corruption.  I  assert 
that,  as  a  general  proposition,  there  is  no  perjury  in  those 
towns.  I  write  from  my  own  knowledge  of  several  of 
them,  and  I  assert  that  I  have  never  known  a  better  or 
more  honest  class  of  independent  voters  than  the  men 
whom  this  bill  would  disfranchise  in  those  towns.  Look 
to  the  registry  of  the  county  of  Cork,  and  see  how  many 
of  the  honest  and  incorruptible  men  of  the  Cove  of  Cork 
would  be  disfranchised.  Mallow  was  considered  not  to  be 
sunk  to  the  level  of  corrruption  and  perjury;  Youghall 
boasted  of  some  honest  men;  Bantry  was  not  sunk  to  a 
degraded  state ;  Kinsale  had  some  independent  small  free- 
holders, and  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  Bandon  is  worse 
than  when  I  lived  in  it.  I  have  not  gone  through  one- 
fourth  of  the  towns  of  this  one  county,  and  there  was  no 
question  but  the  county  of  Cork  is  one  of  the  most 
degraded  in  Ireland  in  its  representation ;  but  that  belongs 
to  some  future  remarks.  I  now  examine  only  the  question 
of  perjury  and  demoralization.  There  was  much,  but  it  was 
not  so  extensive  as  to  require  disfranchisement.  In  England, 
they  would  not  disfranchise  a  rotten  borough,  every  man  of 
which  was  proved  to  be  corrupt  and  degraded.  We  shall 
hereafter  see  why  the  British  parliament  is  so  well  disposed 
to  protect  Irish  purity.  Is  that  parliament  itself  very  free 
from  perjury  and  corruption?  I  recollect  one  of  its  most 
upright  and  conscientious  members,  whom  you  well  know, 
being  in  conversation  with  me  upon  the  subject  of  your 
claims.  I  asked  him  whether,  as  a  good  Protestant,  he 
did  not  think  it  would  be  meritorious  to  induce  us  to 
lay  aside  our  idolatry.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  we  do  not 
believe  you  to  be  idolators."  "But,"  I  replied,  "you 
swear  H."  "  Pugh,  pugh,"  said  he,  "  you  must  not  think 


THE  IRIStI  FRANCHISE.  501 

that  we  believe  it,  though  we  swear  it;  the  oath  is  a 
mere  form  which  must  be  gone  through,  to  take  our  seats." 
"  Let  me  understand  you,"  said  I.  "  Though  every  member 
of  the  House  of  Commons  swears  that  wo  are  idolaters, 
no  one  of  them  believes  what  he  swears  to  be  a  fact?" 
"  Why  you  put  it  too  plainly,"  said  he ;  "  it  will  sound 
better,  and  indeed  be  correct,  if  you  say  we  must  go 
through  the  form  of  the  oath  before  we  can  take  our 
seats."  "And,"  said  I,  "the  Lords  must  go  through  the 
same  form?"  "Yes."  "The  bishops  are  not  exempt?"  said 
I.  "  No,"  said  he,  "  the  bishops  all  go  through  the  form." 
"  Do  the  bishops  believe  us  to  be  idolators  ? "  I  asked. 
"No,  no,  you  wrong  them,"  said  he;  "some  of  them,  per- 
haps two  out  of  forty-three,  are  liberal  men ;  and  I  do 
not  believe  that  one  of  the  others  really  looks  upon  you 
as  idolators."  Thus,  my  friend,  we  have  a  British  bencli 
of  bishops,  who  go  through  a  form  of  oath  which  they 
do  not  believe  to  be  true ;  and  a  House  of  Commons, 
which  swears  against  its  conviction ;  all  shocked  at  a  few 
mistakes  and  some  perjury  of  your  wretched  forty  shilling 
freeholders,  in  registering  their  freeholds  and  in  giving  their 
votes ;  and  though  Grampound  and  old  Sarum  would  give 
godly  men  to  this  pure  legislature,  the  great  bulk  of  the 
Irish  counties  must  be  disfranchised  for  the  mistakes  of 
one  in  ten,  and  the  perjury  and  corruption  of  one  in 
twenty  of  their  voters.  In  which  eye  is  the  beam?  I 
look  upon  you  to  have  been  honest.  How  can  I  look 
upon  the  men  who  have  corrupted  their  tenants  and  forced 
the  perjury  upon  them  to  be  so?  When  I  hear  the 
friends  of  the  ministry  crying  out  against  the  perjury  and 
corruption  of  electors,  it  reminds  me  of  the  sailor  and  the 
preacher  who  threatened  to  denounce  the  crew  to  God,  as 
violators  of  His  law.  "  My  eyes,"  said  the  tar,  "  but  it 
is  always  the  greatest  rogue  becomes  king's  evidence." 

Some  of  the  forty  shilling  freeholders  are  guilty  of  corrupt 
perjury;  certainly  the  great  minority;  therefore,  all  the 
forty  shilling  freeholders  ought  to  be  disfranchised.  The 


502  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

British  parliament,  bishops,  lay-lords,  and  commons,  all 
"  go  through  a  form  of  oath,"  of  which  they  do  not  believe 
the  contents  to  be  true ;  therefore,  as  guardians  of  morality 
and  as  men  whose  ears  tingle  at  the  very  echo  of  the 
sound  of  perjury,  they  ought  to  punish  those  corrupt  free- 
holders whom,  they  have  themselves  corrupted,  and  the 
honest  freeholders,  who  would  not  be  corrupted  by  them. 
You  and  I  were  punished  by  those  people,  because  we 
would  not  swear  against  our  consciences.  They  told  us  that 
we  were  punished  because  we  were  not  credible  upon  oath; 
their  irony  was  cruel  calumny,  accompanied  by  heartless 
persecution.  I  need  not  advise  you  against  persecution,  for 
you  are  no  bigot ;  but  I  advise  you  against  irony.  The 
parliament  of  Great  Britain  knows  that  its  members  are 
all  obliged  to  swear  what  few  or  none  of  them  believe, 
and  this  not  in  one  but  in  a  dozen  propositions.  Do  not 
then  insult  them  by  saying,  that  they  ought  to  disfranchise 
a  political  body,  only  a  vast  minority  of  which  is  corrupt, 
a  majority  of  which,  I  fearlessly  say,  is  honest.  Such 
disqualification  might  have  another  bad  eifect.  It  might 
tend  to  encourage  perjury,  because,  upon  a  knowledge  of 
of  facts,  the  poor  people  Avould  perhaps  imagine  that  the 
British  parliament  had  despoiled  them  of  their  rights, 
because  there  was  not  a  sufficient  proportion  of  the  con- 
stituents assimilated  to  the  representatives,  in  their  mode 
of  going  through  the  form  of  a  political  oath.  Upon  an 
abstract  view  of  the  proposal,  I  would  say :  "  Do  what  you 
can  to  put  a  stop  to  corruption  and  to  perjury."  But, 
viewing  tilings  as  they  really  are  in  Ireland,  I  say:  "It 
is  cruel  injustice  to  disfranchise  the  Irish  Catholic,  whilst 
the  English  Protestant,  equally  guilty,  nay,  more  guilty, 
for  the  British  boroughs  are  more  corrupt  than  the  Irish 
counties,  is  left  unpunished."  I  will  clearly  show,  before 
I  finish,  that  the  correct  view  of  this  case  is  what  I  here 
exhibit. 

Thus,    I    say,    the    perjury   and    corruption     which,    it     is 
pretended,    call    for    the    disfranchiscment,    do    not    exist    to 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  503 

the  extent  assumed;  and  if  their  existence  demands  the 
destruction  of  the  rights  of  the  Irish  freeholder,  the  same 
cause  calls  for  the  disfranchiscment  of  the  English  electors, 
of  the  Irish  freemen  in  cities,  and  of  the  pure  British 
parliament;  and  much  more  cause  exists  in  each  of  those 
latter  cases,  than  in  the  former.  I  assert,  therefore,  that 
perjury  and  corruption  of  the  forty  shilling  freeholder  is 
not  the  cause  but  the  pretext  for  depriving  him  of  his 
franchise.  "  I  am  called  a  robber,"  said  the  unfortunate 
captive  of  the  Macedonian  king,  "  because  I  can  command 
only  one  small  ship ;  but  you  are  called  a  conqueror, 
because  your  spoliations  are  more  extensive,  and  your 
means  of  mischief  greater."  There  is  more  perjury,  more 
venality,  more  corruption  in  your  parliament,  in  your 
bloated  corporations,  in  your  large  freeholders,  and  in  your 
miserable  little  protected  sinks  of  malevolent  bigotry,  your 
small  Orange  freemen,  in  a  tenfold  ratio  of  their  numbers, 
than  in  the  forty  shilling  freeholders.  If  then  hatred  of 
corruption,  detestation  of  perjury,  and  love  of  integrity,  be 
the  motives  of  the  destroyers  of  the  franchise,  why  not 
begin  where  the  evil  is  most  palpable  and  most  desperate? 
I  know  you  would,  if  you  could.  This  attack  upon  the 
forty  shilling  freeholder  did  not  originate  with  you ;  but 
you  ought  to  have  withstood  it.  You  ought  to  have  acted 
as  Lawless  did. 

But,  would  not  raising  the  qualification  to  ten  pounds 
put  a  stop  to  this  evil,  or  at  least  diminish  it  ?  No :  I 
do  not  think  it  would.  You  are  fully  aware  that  the  men 
who  would  manufacture  a  forty  shilling  freeholder,  would 
be  as  well  disposed  to  manufacture  one  of  ten  pounds; 
and  the  man  who  would  be  corrupt  enough  to  swear 
against  the  fact  that  he  had  the  value  of  a  shilling,  which 
he  had  not,  would  be  disposed  to  swear  the  same  to  any 
amount.  The  perjury  and  the  corruption  do  not  consist  in 
the  sum  but  in  the  disposition.  The  only  effect  would  be 
to  diminish  the  number  of  honest  votes,  and  to  diminish 
the  whole  number  of  voters.  The  proportion  of  honest 


504  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

men  who  would  be  disfranchised  would  be  greater  than 
that  of  knaves  who  wrould  be  kept  away.  This  is  not 
mere  speculation. 

Previous  to  1793,  when  the  elective  franchise  was  restored 
to  Catholics,  none  of  the  upright,  conscientious  Catholics 
could  vote;  but,  as  I  am  informed,  a  large  portion  of  the 
offscouring  and  dregs  of  the  body  always  were  employed 
to  personate  Protestant  freeholders,  and  I  am  told  that  any 
corruption  which  was  known  since,  was  purity  compared 
to  the  profligacy  of  the  preceding  period.  I  have  a  very 
faint  recollection  of  a  contested  election  in  the  county  of 
Cork  before  1793;  I  recollect  only  two  circumstances.  I 
saw  the  successful  candidates  chaired,  and  I  shall  never 
forget  the  public  and  continued  exclamations  against  the 
perjury,  corruption,  and  profligacy  of  the  agents  and  pre- 
tended freeholders.  I  have  since  then  witnessed  what  was 
said  to  be  the  worst  species  cf  malpractices  used  at 
elections ;  arid  I  uniformly  heard  all  those  who  were  older 
than  me  fcay,  that  they  were  not  in  any  wray  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  corruption  and  crime  which  was  usual  before 
the  restoration  of  their  rights  to  Catholic  forty  shilling 
freeholders.  Thus,  as  far  as  the  examination  of  principle 
and  of  fact,  and  the  comparison  of  what  now  is  with  what 
was  before  1793,  can  lead  me,  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion 
that  changing  the  freeholder's  lowest  qualification  to  ten 
pounds,  would  not  benefit  the  cause  of  morality.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  such  benefit  was  not  amongst  the  objects  of 
those  who  proposed  it. 

IV. 

I  have  shown  from  facts  that  the  forty  shilling  freeholder 
has  a  will  of  his  own.  I  wish  to  show,,  in  like  manner, 
that,  generally  speaking,  the  twenty  pound  freeholder  has 
less  will  of  his  own,  is  more  a  slave  to  his  landlord.  I 
promised  to  show  this  by  proof  from  facts.  I  shall  give, 
in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  the  substance  of  what  I  have 
frequently  listened  to.  A  forty  shilling  freeholder  is  rernon- 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  505 

strating  with  one  of  Mr.  Blake's  men  who  had  common 
decency  and  shame  and  some  property  in  his  hands,  viz., 
•a  twenty  pound  freeholder,  "a  totally  different  class  from 
the  forty  shilling  freeholder." 

Forty.  Neighbor,  why  do  you  hold  back?  Why  don't 
you  come  to  the  committee  room  and  do  as  the  rest  of 
us  are  doing  ? 

Twenty.  'Tis  easily  said ;  a  man  must  consider  for  his 
family.  The  committee  can  do  without  me ;  I  wish  them 
success. 

Forty.  Certainly  they  can ;  and  without  me ;  but  if  every 
person  gives  only  good  wishes,  there  will  be  nobody  to 
vote,  and  then  we  will  be  trodden  down  as  they  used  to 
walk  upon  us  before  we  got  the  freehold  leases,  when  they 
used  to  turn  us  off  the  land,  and  let  in  the  little  Protest- 
ants and  the  bucks,1  and  we  were  not  considered  worth 
the  dirt  of  their  shoes ;  the  poor  Protestants  and  the 
greatest  rogues  among  ourselves,  men  that  would  swear  to 
lies  and  take  bribes,  were  then  the  best  men  in  their 
esteem.  But  we  now  get  civility  sometimes  and  we  arc 
courted,  because  the  landlord  knows  the  election  will  come 
about  some  time  or  another. 

Twenty.  Don't  you  know  the  landlord  is  against  our 
committee?  and  do  you  want  me  to  go  and  get  my  goods 
and  stock  distrained  for  the  rent? 

Forty.  Surely  I  know  as  well  as  you  do.  Didn't  his 
attorney  send  to  tell  me  that  I  owed  now  a  whole  year's 
rent,  and  that  he  had  a  mind  to  press  me  for  the  whole, 
but  he  supposed  if  I  went  to  speak  to  the  landlord 
himself  at  the  other  committee  room,  I  could  get  easy 
terms,  and  he  wanted  to  know  what  I  was  doing  here. 
You  don't  owe  more  than  a  year's  rent? 

Twenty.  No,  nor  the  year's  rent  in  full,  but  you  know 
it  is  easier  to  make  up  five  years  of  your  rent  than  one 
year's  rent  of  mine ;  and  besides,  if  it  comes  to  the  worst,, 
and  that  you  lose  your  little  interest,  it  is  less  evil  to 
lose  a  small  interest  than  a  large  one ;  it  is  easier  to  buy 

1  Mock  freeholders  who  swore  to  what  they  did  not  possess. 


506  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

your  stock  than  mine  ;  if  I  was  only  a  forty  shilling  man, 
I'd  go  to  the  committee  as  soon  as  you  would.  Forty 
shilling  men  can  go  together  and  help  one  another,  but  it  is 
not  so  convenient  for  twenty  pounders  to  do  so.  Besides, 
what  is  the  difference  to  us?  The  three  candidates  all 
promise  to  support  the  Catholic  bill.  One  man  is  as  good 
for  that  purpose  as  another.  I  must  go  with  the  landlord. 
JBut  if  I  had  only  your  bit  of  ground,  I  would  not  care,  so 
much,  and  if  you  had  mine,  you  would  leave  your  committee 
to  themselves. 

Forty.  What  makes  the  candidates  all  promise  to  vote  now 
for  the  Catholic  bill?  They  did  not  promise  this  the  last 
time.  That  time  we  had  only  one  candidate  in  our  favor 
and  the  Orangemen  laughed  at  us.  Since  then  we  made 
three  times  as  many  freeholders  as  we  had  then.  I'll  vote 
for  the  man  that  was  with  me  when  we  were  weak.  Besides, 
he'll  not  give  his  vote  to  have  so  much  taxation  on  us ;  he 
won't  vote  for  the  man  that  let  the  soldiers  loose  upon  us, 
since  we  cannot  get  out  of  the  ground  rent  and  rates  and 
tithes  and  taxes  more  than  its  produce  is  worth;  nor  will  he 
vote  to  take  us  from  our  little  families  because  we  happen  to 
be  too  far  from  home  to  be  within  doors  before  the  fall  of 
ihe  sun.  Surely,  you  know  there  are  some  of  our  members 
worse  than  any  Protestants,  and  this  man  and  other  Protest- 
ants are  not  to  be  sunk  to  a  level  with  the  landlord.  Stay 
Avith  us ;  he  wants  tenants  as  much  as  we  want  land. 

I  assure  you,  my  friend,  that  I  have  frequently  witnessed 
dialogues  of  this  description,  in  much  stronger  language; 
and  that,  so  far  from  twenty  pound  freeholders  having  a 
-will  more  independent  than  those  of  forty  shillings,  I 
believe  it  is  generally,  in  the  counties,  quite  the  reverse, 
because  they  have  a  greater  stake  subject  to  the  landlord's 
discretionary  harassing. 

Now  I  come  to  your  fifty  pound  freeholders.  They  are 
of  two  kinds:  1.  Those  who  hold  as  in  fee;  with  respect 
to  them  you  know  they  are  generally  dependent  upon  the 
crown  for  many  favors  and  for  more  expectations.  Their 


TUB  HUSH  FRANCHISE.  507 

sons  and  brothers  are  in  the  army,  in  the  navy,  in  the 
Church,  in  the  public  offices,  etc.  Though  in  the  abstract 
they  are  independent,  I  ask  you,  in  fact,  are  they  -not 
really  more  the  slaves  of  their  party  or  of  the  crown  or 
castle,  than  the  forty  shilling  freeholder  is  of  his  land- 
lord ?  2.  The  middlemen :  are  they  not,  more  generally 
speaking,  the  greatest  slaves,  as  being  most  in  arrears ; 
having  heavy  rents ;  having  received  some  favors  and 
expecting  others ;  besides  cringing  to  be  permitted  to  hunt, 
and  to  dine,  and  to  shoot  with  their  betters?  There  are 
several  exceptions  in  each  of  those  divisions,  but  I  know 
the  general  statement  to  be  correct.  In  the  counties,  my 
impression  is  that,  as  time  advances,  the  small  freeholders 
will  become  more  independent;  and  that  it  is  the  dread 
of  this  which  harasses  Messrs.  Canning,  Plunkett,  etc. 

The  county  of  Cork  is  the  worst  represented  that  can 
be ;  yet  you  will  tell  me  it  has  an  immense  registry  ot 
forty  shilling  freeholders,  and  their  will  and  interest  are 
opposed  to  the  sitting  members  for  whom  many  of  them 
have  voted.  Therefore,  you  will  say  it  is  clear  they  have 
no  will  of  their  own,  and  that  I  am  in  error.  I  shall 
answer  by  facts.  Mr.  Poiisonby  once  spoke  with  me  upon 
the  subject ;  and  though  I  made  him  no  promise,  I  pri- 
vately made  an  essay  to  try  whether  the  same  effect  could 
be  produced  in  the  county,  that  was  in  the  county  of  the 
city,  and  by  the  same  means.  I  uniformly  found  the  40s. 
interest  honest  and  ready  to  act.  But  I  found  the  middle- 
men, who  ought  to  co-operate,  not  only  not  willing  to  do 
so,  but  actually  opposed  to  any  such  proceeding,  and  this, 
as  many  of  them  declared  to  me,  because  they  were  in 
the  power  of  their  landlords  much  more  than  the  poorer 
freeholders  were  ;  some  of  those  were  gentlemen  whom  you 
well  know,  swaggering,  independent  gentlemen,  who  voted 
on  the  3d  of  September,  1813,  "that  property  was  the 
standard  of  opinion,"  and  who  were  then  as  aristocratic  as 
Anthony  Richard  Blake  is  now.  I  mention  but  one  county, 
because  I  write  from  my  own  knowledge,  but  I  have  been 


508  THE  IKISH  FRANCHISE. 

told  and  do  believe  that  in  several  other  counties  the  case 
was  the  same.  I  therefore  assert :  1 .  That  the  assumption 
that  40s.  freeholders  have  no  will  of  their  own,  is  against 
the  fact.  2.  That  the  assumption  that  large  freeholders  are 
more  independent  of  their  landlords,  is  against  the  fact. 
Therefore  the  reasoning  built  on  such  assumptions  is  a 
perfect  delusion. 

The  fact  is  known  from  experience  and  all  the  practical 
reasoning  leads  to  the  conclusion,  that  however  mean  his 
station,  however  apparently  dependent  he  may  be,  the 
humble  40s.  freeholder  is  the  least  corrupt  part  of  the 
constituency  of .  Ireland.  Let  us  view  that  constituency.  I 
shall  give  to  the  American  to  contemplate  a  picture  which 
will  exhibit  to  him  the  vast  superiority  of  his  simple 
qualification  for  a  voter,  over  the  complicated  machinery  of 
Gothic  and  Saxon  and  Norman  institutions,  subsisting  in 
the  imperfection  of  the  blended  defects  of  each  and  the 
combination  of  all  rendered  more  intricate  by  fiction,  so 
that  the  mind  becomes  bewildered,  and  the  juggler  is 
allowed  to  play  with  his  puppets  at  his  pleasure. 

The  first  class  of  electors  are  the  beneficed  clergymen  of 
the  Established  Church ;  they  come  in  upon  the  tenure  of 
the  benefice  during  life,  for  the  service  which  they  are 
supposed  to  give  in  return  is  free  and  honorable.  No 
man  would  presume  to  breathe  a  whisper  that  this  parson 
is  to  be  disfranchised,  because  he  has  no  will  of  his  own. 
Now,  my  friends,  there  are  in  Ireland  upwards  of  four- 
teen hundred  voters  of  this  class.  I  put  the  question 
openly :  Does  any  man  in  Ireland  believe  that  two  hun- 
dred of  those  parsons  are  men  who  vote  independently? 
For  my  own  part  I  do  not  believe  that  fifty  of  them  do. 
I  write  it  as  a  notorious  fact,  not  as  a  charge,  not  as  a 
reproach.  Those  gentlemen  who  have  received  their  livings 
by  presentation  from  lay  patrons,  consider  it  a  compliment, 
which  as  gentlemen  they  owe  to  those  who  presented  their 
livings  to  vote  as  they  wish.  Those  who  receive  their 
livings  by  the  gift  of  the  crown,  feel  that  the  crown 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  509 

expects  their  votes,  and  also  that  if  the  court  candidate 
will  not  get  it,  the  court  will  give  no  farther  promotion 
to  the  recusant,  and  the  crown  is  daily  purchasing  the 
right  of  patronage  from  the  proprietors,  in  order  to  increase 
its  influence  at  elections. 

There  are  eight  or  nine  hundred  other  clergymen,  curates 
and  expectants,  who  vote  with  those  from  whom  they  have 
expectation.  They  are  voters  by  virtue  of  their  own 
property  or  by  being  freemen  of  corporations.  Now,  my 
friend,  did  any  person  propose  to  disfranchise  those  men, 
though  every  one  knows  and  acknowledges  that  not  one  in 
ten  of  them  is  an  independent  voter?  But  the  aristocratic 
Anthony  Richard  Blake  will  say  they  have  property,  and 
therefore  must  be  independent;  most  of  the  gentlemen  of 
this  last  class  are  fifty  pound  and  twenty  pound  free- 
holders. I  care  not  whether  a  man  is  influenced  by  what 
he  calls  a  gentlemanly  feeling  of  gratitude,  or  by  expecta- 
tion of  favor,  or  by  dread  of  his  landlord.  The  result 
is  the  same.  He  is  influenced ;  he  is  not  independent. 
Besides  this,  the  clergymen  are  swayed  by  all  the  other 
motives  which  operate  upon  the  other  large  freeholders. 
Thus,  it  is  a  notorious  fact,  that  no  person  ever  expects 
an  Irish  clergyman  of  the  establishment  to  give  an 
independent  vote.  The  government,  the  bishop,  and  his 
patron,  all  exercise  over  him  more  sway  than  any  land- 
lord does  over  any  freeholder.  Yet  it  would  be  considered 
sacrilege  to  touch  his  franchise,  and  you  would  yourself 
be  horrified  at  the  proposal,  though  you  did  taunt  my 
friend  John  Lawless  for  what  you  were  graciously  pleased 
to  call  his  under-growl  in  defence  of  my  quondam  com- 
rades, the  40s.  freeholders,  whom  you  advised  to  be  silent, 
whilst  Mr.  Plunkett  was  stripping  them,  as  he  could  not 
incarcerate  you !  Was  this  like  Daniel  O'Connell  ?  Would 
any  quondam  fellow-agitator  have  acted  so  ?  I  do  not 
want  to  strip  the  clergy  of  their  votes ;  but  if  the  forty 
shilling  freeholder  is  to  be  disfranchised  because  he  is  not 
master  of  his  own  vote,  you  must  a  fortiori  disfranchise 


510  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

upwards    of  two   thousand   parsons.     Then    indeed   would   we 
have   a   yell    of    "  No    Popery "    and    "  Church    in    danger." 

The  next  class  of  electors  which  I  will  exhibit,  is  that 
most  highly  respectable  division  called  the  men  of  old 
families  and  large  properties. 

One  of  those  esquires  could  register  a  freeholder  not 
only  of  fifty  pounds  per  annum,  but  over  twenty  thou- 
sand pounds  per  annum ;  that  is,  my  good  American 
readers,  about  ninety  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Surely  the 
aristocratic  Anthony  Richard  Blake  will  now  triumph ;  for 
clearly  this  man  must  be  a  more  independent  voter  than 
a  40s.  freeholder,  a  fellow  who  is  not  worth  a  greater 
interest  than  nine  dollars  a  year.  He  will  tell  you,  by 
the  common  rule  of  proportion,  that  the  former  gentleman 
has  ten  thousand  times  as  much  sense,  as  much  know- 
ledge, as  weighty  an  opinion  as  one  of  the  mere  rabble, 
because  "property  is  the  standard  of  opinion." 

But  who  could  influence  such  an  independent  man  as 
this  ?  I  answer  that  there  are  very  many  men  of  this 
description  who  cannot  be  influenced  by  any  unfair  or 
unbecoming  means.  But  there  are  several  others  who  have 
less  will  of  their  own  than  any  forty  shilling  freeholder 
has,  and  what  enslaves  their  will  enslaves  all  the  others 
of  inferior  grades  in  proportion. 

Several  of  those  great  landed  proprietors  have  enormous 
rent-rolls  but  trifling  incomes.  Money  has  been  raised  to- 
vast  amount  upon  bonds  bearing  interest  by  their  prede- 
cessors and  by  themselves  for  various  purposes  —  for  for- 
tunes for  the  females,  outfits  and  annuities  for  younger 
brothers,  and  extravagant  expenses.  How  often  does  it 
happen  that  in  Ireland  a  man  whose  estate  produces  thirty 
thousand  pounds  yearly,  pays  away  more  than  twenty  thou- 
sand in  interest!  The  appearance  must  be  kept  up,  how- 
ever, to  suit  the  rank,  and  the  means  to  insure  this  must 
be  had  recourse  to.  Government  has  vast  patronage  in 
the  Church — the  bishoprics,  the  deaneries,  and  a  multitude 
of  rich  benefices.  Here  is  provision  for  younger  sons  and 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  511 

for  sons-in-law,  but  there  must  be  a  quid  pro  quo :  the 
court  candidate  must  be  supported  at  elections.  Commands 
in  the  army  and  navy,  distinctions,  governorships,  embas- 
sies, secretaryships,  places  in  the  revenue,  on  the  several 
public  boards,  inspectorships,  sinecures,  pensions,  and  all 
the  d  cderas.  The  bench,  the  chairmanship  of  counties,  the 
offices  in  the  courts,  the  places  of  high  sheriff,  attorney 
and  solicitor-general,  law-adviser  and  counsel  to  the  several 
boards ;  the  physician  of  the  forces,  surgeons  of  the  hos- 
pitals, regiments,  etc. ;  commissioners  in  the  militia,  etc. 
Here  are  several  thousands  of  places  all  at  the  disposal 
of  the  crown.  Viewing  those,  the  large  embarrassed  free- 
holder says :  "  My  poverty  but  not  my  will  consents." 
His  family,  his  relations,  his  creditors  who  wish  to  fill 
those  places,  importune  him.  He  is  exposed  to  tempta- 
tions which  never  assail  the  forty  shilling  freeholder.  I 
put  it  to  my  friend  O'Connell  to  say,  if  the  latter  is  to 
be  disfranchised,  ought  not  the  former? 

You  know  too  well  the  manner  in  which  all  minor 
offices  are  disposed  of.  Generally  speaking,  they  are  in 
the  actual  gift  of  the  court  member,  who  is  bound  to 
vote  for  the  minister,  in  the  House  of  Commons ;  and  he 
gives  them  to  twenty  pound  and  occasionally  forty  shilling 
freeholders  or  their  relatives  who  will  vote  to  send  him 
to  the  House  of  Commons.  Every  person  who  knows  Ire- 
land, knows  that  to  be  the  fact.  Here  is  a  picture  for 
the  American  to  contemplate !  And  the  men  who  are  thus 
returned  to  the  honorable  House  unblushingly  ask  to  dis- 
franchise the  men  wThom  this  corrupting  influence  can  scarcely 
reach. 

I  shall  now  hazard  an  opinion  and  a  conjecture.  The 
opinion  is :  That  so  increasing  the  number  of  voters  as  to 
make  the  influenced  portion  the  decided  minority  •  will  be 
the  most  likely  mode  of  destroying  this  corruption.  Every 
increase  of  the  number  of  voters  will  approximate  to  this 
desirable  state.  And  every  diminution  of  the  number  of 
voters  will  increase  the  power  of  the  crown  and  of  its 


512  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

dependents.  Suppose,  against  the  fact,  the  forty  shilling 
freeholders  to  be  now  equally  influenced  as  the  other 
electors,  still  increasing  their  number  would  be  more  likely 
to  decrease  the  power  of  the  crown,  because  a  large  body 
is  less  manageable  than  a  small  body;  and  the  facts  which 
we  observe  prove  the  principle.  The  crown  can  procure  a 
return,  with  facility,  in  the  small  bodies;  but,  even  if 
through  its  influence  it  should  succeed  in  large  bodies,  it 
is  always  after  a  serious  struggle.  A  landlord,  too,  could 
more  easily  influence  twenty  large  freeholders  who  live 
upon  his  estate,  than  he  could  two  hundred  small  free- 
holders. When  the  number  of  voters  was  small,  before 
1793,  elections  were  easily  managed  by  the  crown  and  the 
proprietors  of  boroughs ;  but  since  then  the  number  of 
voters  has  been  gradually  increasing,  and  the  electors  are 
not  so  easily  managed.  The  crown  and  the  great  landlords 
find  their  influence  greatly  checked ;  the  people  at  large 
find  their  consequence  greatly  increased.  The  extension  of 
the  franchise,  in  1793,  did  more  to  rescue  Ireland  from 
degradation  than  any  other  act  could  have  done;  and  my 
conjecture  is,  that  now  the  crown  and  the  great  landholders 
have  combined  to  narrow  the  right  of  suffrage,  to  check  the 
progress  of  popular  rights,  and  to  endeavor  to  gain  a  portion 
of  that  domination  which  they  have  lost,  and  to  secure  what 
yet  remains.  I  think  I  see  the  proof  of  this  in  the  eager- 
ness with  which  the  aristocrats  who  used  to  oppose  Catholic 
emancipation,  rush  forward  to  petition  that  emancipation 
might  be  granted  upon  the  condition  of  their  being  delivered 
from  an  unmanageable  body  of  electors,  who  will  not  permit 
them  to  make  their  bargains  with  government  as  comfortably 
as  their  fathers  used,  when  the  number  of  voters  was  less 
and  the  small  body  was  more  easily  managed.  Here  was  a 
tremendous  water-spout  rising  in  your  course,  and  which 
would  have  inevitably  swamped  your  vessel,  had  it  poured 
upon  her;  yet  you  were  displeased  with  the  man,  who, 
looking  ahead,  fired  a  gun  to  dissipate  the  portentous 
column;  because,  forsooth,  the  demon  of  the  whirlwind 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  513 

would  be  displeased  at  the  report,  and  tell  your  crew  that 
although  he  had*  them  stowed  under  hatches  and  driven 
your  steersmen  from  the  helm,  you  still  were  agitating 
demagogues ;  no  doubt  the  report  of  such  a  gun  was  an 
under-growl !  Alas,  poor  Ireland !  was  it  not  an  unpardon- 
able offence  in  John  Lawless,  to  have  called  your  children 
to  your  protection,  when  orders  had  been  issued  not  to 
utter  a  syllable  until  after  the  keeper  should  have  had  his 
hand  upon  you  and  was  actually  turning  the  screws  of 
your  manacles?  And  have  I  so  far  forgotten  the  land  of 
my  birth  ani  the  spirit  of  my  former  associates  in  a 
very  few  short  years,  as  not  to  have  been  astounded  at 
reading  that  in  an  aggregate  meeting  of  the  Catholics  of 
Ireland,  the  man  who  thus  protected  his  country  was  received 
with  partial  hissing?  But  let  me  congratulate  him  upon 
the  occurrence.  In  every  community  there  will  be  found 
men  whose  praise  is  censure  and  whose  censure  is  praise ; 
I  should  suspect  I  was  a  traitor  to  Ireland,  had  I  been 
applauded  by  the  men  who  shouted  for  the  Marquis  of 
Londonderry. 

V. 

I  trust  that  it  has  been  shown :  1 .  That  although  many 
of  the  registered  forty  shilling  freeholders  were  manufac- 
tured, still  the  vast  majority  of  them  were  and  are  bona 
fide  freeholders.  2.  That  so  far  from  being  generally  per- 
jurers, they  generally  have  a  high  respect  for  their  oath. 
Oh,  I  am  galled  and  ashamed  at  being  compelled  by  any 
circumstances  connected  with  you  to  have  been  obliged  to 
write  this !  3.  That  as  a  body  they  are  less  corrupt  than 
any  other  class  of  Irish  voters.  No  comparison  can  be 
formed  between  their  political  purity  and  the  political  corrup- 
tion of  the  freemen  of  corporations.  4.  That  as  a  body  they 
are  less  liable  to  influence  and  less  under  its  operation  than 
the  clergy,  the  large  proprietors,  and  the  twenty  and  fifty 
pound  freeholders.  Remark,  I  compare  the  aggregate  body 
on  the  one  side  to  the  aggregate  body  on  the  other.  I  make 

S3 


514  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

no  individual  comparisons,  and  I  also  take  them,  in  the  ratio 
of  their  numbers,  respectively.  You  may,  for  instance,  in 
one  barony  find  a  clergyman  perfectly  independent ;  three  or 
four  proprietors  unembarassed  and  incorruptible ;  eight  or  ten 
respectable  twenty  pound  freeholders ;  and  in  this  collection 
of  twenty-five  unexceptionable  men,  you  have  spirit,  integrity 
and  patriotism.  You  may  in  that  same  barony  produce  two 
hundred  forty  shilling  freeholders,  one-fourth  of  whom  are 
either  slavish  or  corrupt.  Yet  you  will  have  one  hundred 
and  fifty  honest  men,  whom  the  bill  would  disfranchise.  But 
this  view  even  is  grossly  partial,  because  it  assumes,  against 
the  fact,  that  through  the  island  all  the  honest  votes  are  to 
be  found  amongst  the  clergy  and  gentry.  You  may  recollect 
the  homely  answer  of  a  countryman  of  ours  to  a  person  who 
told  him  that  his  family  must  be  very  bad,  as  there  were  so 
many  who  bore  his  name  hanged,  though  hanging  is  not,  in 
Ireland,  evidence  of  criminality :  "  My  good  sir,"  was  the 
reply,  "there  were  more  bearing  my  name  hanged  than  were 
good  men  bearing  your  name,  and  there  are  now  a  greater 
number  of  good  persons  of  my  name  living  than  ever  were, 
are,  or  will  be,  of  your  name  in  the  world."  In  the  ratio 
of  their  numbers  the  forty  shilling  freeholders  are  the  best 
and  most  independent  voters  in  Ireland.  Should  this  be 
ever  read  in  Ireland,  I  am  quite  aware  of  the  manner  in 
which  it  will  be  received  at  the  first  reading;  but  the 
numbers  who  will  acknowledge  its  truth  will  be  continually 
on  the  increase  as  examination  will  be  made. 

But  why  not  amend  the  system  by  destroying  the  slavish 
and  the  corrupt  portion?  Do,  if  you  will;  but  begin  where 
the  evil  is  greatest.  You  say  you  cannot;  the  Church 
cannot  be  touched ;  lay  but  a  finger  upon  it,  and  Mr. 
Plunkett,  the  worthy  son  of  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  will 
be  actually  in  hysterics,  and  the  Catholic  Mr.  Blake  will 
be  shocked  and  will  need  the  aid  of  thieves'  vinegar  to 
preserve  him  from  the  contagion  of  democracy.  Well,  to 
give  Mr.  Plunkett  a  chance  of  the  chancellorship,  and  to 
leave  it  in  Mr.  Blake's  power  to  climb  the  bench  or  to 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  515 

creep  into  the  Commons  (is  not  this  House  too  democrat- 
ical  for  this  aristocrat?)  We  will  leave  the  churchmen 
untouched  and  the  large  freeholders  unmolested.  But  pro- 
vided always  upon  the  condition  that  they  leave  the  small 
freeholders  unmolested,  but  not  otherwise.  There  are  some 
evils  in  the  system,  but  many  of  these  evils  arise  from 
the  unreasonable  mode  of  continuing  a  feudal  test,  to  know 
who  is  a  freeman  in  a  system  where  freedom  and  indepen- 
dence are  not  now  connected  with  feudal  tenure.  Every 
freeman  ought  to  have  a  vote.  This  is  the  principle  of 
the  old  English  constitution.  In  the  Saxon  days,  in  the 
Norman  times,  there  were  villains  and  thralls ;  they  were 
not  freemen.  Now  your  mode  of  ascertaining  who  is  a 
freeman,  is  to  ask  does  his  foot  touch  the  soil  of  Britain? 
He  is  free.  I  have  not  the  spirit  to  transcribe  nor  even 
to  allude  to  the  description  of  the  beautiful  vision  which 
presented  itself  to  Curran's  imagination,  and  which  his 
ardor  mistook  for  real  fact:  when  he  told  us  of  the 
sinking  of  the  altar  and  the  god  before  the  genius  of 
universal  emancipation.  Oh,  my  friend,  it  is  sickening  to 
read  so  eloquent  a  sentence  and  to  find  how  you  are 
mocked  when  you  come  to  examine  the  reality.  True, 
there  is  no  god;  but  there  is  an  altar  over  which  the 
demon  of  discord  presides,  grinning  a  ghastly  smile  of 
bitter  mockery  at  the  deluded  reader  of  Curran's  vision. 
This  idol  of  my  native  land,  begrimed  with  blood,  sur- 
rounded with  halters  and  instruments  of  torture,  is  raised 
upon  the  rights  of  Ireland  as  a  pedestal ;  the  yells  of 
party  orgies  swell  the  peals  of  adoration ;  human  victims 
palpitate,  and  the  smoke  of  their  carcasses  rises  like  incense 
to  his  distended  nostrils.  We  behold  those  whom  pestilence 
and  famine  and  desolation  have  prostrated,  fill  the  temple: 
their  infuriated  relatives  rush  to  assail  those  who  mock 
their  woes  with  hypocritical  distributions  of  Bibles  and 
religious  tracts,  and  thunder  out  their  anathemas  in  the 
shape  of  insurrection  acts,  and  white-boy  acts  and  peel  in  £ 
acts,  and  tithing  acts ;  many  of  those  relatives  are  seized 


516  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

and  banished,  the  others  by  the  use  of  their  franchise 
would  indeed  demolish  this  altar,  destroy  this  temple,  and 
lay  this  spirit,  and  therefore  it  is  that  they  who  would 
perpetuate  the  idolatry  would  deprive  them  of  their  fran- 
chise, because,  like  every  other  worship,  the  worship  of 
this  demon  brings  profit  to  his  priesthood. 

If  every  man  in  Ireland  is  a  freeman,  why  has  not 
every  man  in  Ireland  his  elective  franchise  ?  And  if  this 
be  a  freeman's  characteristic,  why  will  you  deprive  so  many 
thousands  of  my  countrymen  of  their  freedom?  Or  will 
they  permit  '  it  ?  Mr.  Shiel  said  you  could  persuade  them 
to  be  content  after  the  spoliation.  Could  you  ?  Then  they 
deserve  worse  than  slavery.  "Would  you?  Your  punishment 
ought  to  be  more  afflictive  than  theirs.  If  Mr.  Shiel  stated 
what  was  a  fact,  I  thank  God  I  do  not  live  in  Ireland. 
I  thank  God  I  live  amongst  men  who  value  their  rights, 
and  will  never  listen  to  any  who  dares  to  advise  about 
even  the  possibility  of  their  retrenchment.  No,  no !  this 
is  one  of  Mr.  Shiel's  mistakes.  He  has  a  beautiful  imag- 
ination. He  sees  this  not  in  Ireland,  but  with  his  mind's 
eye.  He  sees  it  in  that  space  between  earth  and  heaven ; 
he  bodies  it  forth  in  words,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing  a 
habitation  and  a  name. 

But  you  would  not  strip  Irishmen  of  their  rights ;  you 
would  give  the  right  of  universal  suffrage.  Why,  then,  did 
you  tell  them  to  be  silent?  "  Qui  tacet  consentire  videtur." 
Why  did  you  scoff  at  the  under-growl  of  Jack  Lawless? 

But  you  would  leave  a  respectable  constituency.  You 
would  disfranchise  thousands.  You  would  reduce  men  who 
now  have  a  right  to  vote  to  the  state  of  slaves  who  have 
no  vote.  But  there  would  arise  a  substantial  class  of  ten 
pound  freeholders,  and  there  would  be  more  comfort  amongst 
the  peasantry.  Do  you  seriously  believe  this  would  be  the 
result?  I  do  not,  and  I  found  my  opinion  upon  my 
knowledge  of  the  Irish  landlords. 

But  suppose  the  landlord  gives  a  tenant  an  interest  of 
ten  pounds  instead  of  forty  shillings.  If  it  arises  from 


THE  WISII  FRANCHISE.  517 

« 

the  landlord's  generosity,  the  tenant  will  be  under  an 
obligation ;  if  it  arises  from  the  tenant's  industry  and 
means,  he  has  how  the  same  industry,  the  same  means. 
The  change  would  be  injurious  to  freedom;  and  this  is 
the  reason  why  all  the  tyrannical  land-jobbers  and  the 
aristocratic  land-owners,  who  detest  the  sound  of  Catholic 
emancipation,  are  ready  to  give  even  emancipation  at  this 
price.  Thus  they  profess  their  opinion  to  be  that  which 
I  have  expressed ;  that  this  docs  more  injury  to  civil 
liberty  and  to  Irish  freedom,  than  would  be  compensated 
for  by  Catholic  emancipation. 

But,  hitherto,  I  have  been  obliged  to  keep  one  great 
consideration  out  of  view,  viz.:  That  the  quantity  of 
property  in  Ireland,  out  of  which  freehold  interest  could 
arise,  is  much  smaller  than  is  generally  imagined. 

You  are  to  deduct  from  the  surface  of  the  island :  First, 
all  the  bishops'  lands,  which  are  held  by  tenants  for  terms 
of  years — generally  with  the  clause  of  toties  quoties,  that  is, 
the  occupying  tenant  has,  upon  certain  conditions,  a  right 
to  get  a  renewal  from  the  bishop's  tenant,  who  is  his 
landlord,  as  often  as  that  landlord  gets  a  renewal  from 
the  bishop.  Next,  the  glebe  land,  the  college  lands,  and 
those  of  several  corporations,  which  are  not  allowed  to 
make  a  freehold.  I  believe  this  would  sweep  away  more 
than  one-fourth  of  the  country,  upon  which  no  freehold 
can  exist. 

Before  1778,  no  Roman  Catholic  could  take  a  lease  of 
a  house  or  land  for  a  longer  term  than  thirty-one  years, 
and  if  the  land  was  worth  more  than  a  trifling  considera- 
tion over  the  yearly  rent,  any  Protestant  could,  upon  paying 
that  advanced  sum,  turn  the  Catholic  out  and  enter  into 
possession. 

But  when  the  success  of  the  people  of  America  taught 
England  that  prudence  which  is  miscalled  generosity,  Cath- 
olics, upon  swearing  allegiance,  were  permitted  to  take 
leases  at  low  rents  and  for  999  years.  The  first  relief  of 
the  Irish  Catholic  from  his  bondage  is  due  to  America, 


518  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

which  may  God  enrich  with  every  blessing !  And,  perhaps, 
were  it  given  to  us  to  see  through  the  mist  of  futurity, 
we  would  discover  that  the  ecstatic  consolation  of  completing 
this  work  of  philanthropy  and  charity  is  reserved  for  this 
land,  whose  soil  teems  with  the  blood  and  sweat  of  grateful 
Irish  Catholics.1 

The  Catholics,  soon  after  the  passing  of  this  law,  began 
to  acquire  real  chattel  to  a  considerable  amount ;  and,  in 
fourteen  years,  had  got  into  possession  of  a  vast  quantity 
of  land,  under  leases  for  long  terms  of  years.  In  1782, 
they  were  permitted  to  take  freehold,  but  not  to  vote,  for 
which  reason  they  still  took  chattel. 

This  greatly  curtailed  the  quantity  of  land  in  towns,  cities, 
and  counties  which  might  be  made  freehold,  because  no 
freehold  can  arise  out  of  a  real  chattel.  Thus,  when  in 
1793,  the  French  Revolution  and  the  United  Irishmen 
made  the  English  goverment  exhibit  a  little  more  mock- 
generosity,  the  Catholics  could  become  freeholders,  and  were 
restored  to  their  franchise  except  in  the  corporations ;  the 
quantity  of  land  by  means  of  which  they  could  obtain  the 
franchise  was  greatly  limited,  and  had,  in  fact,  been  prin- 
cipally curtailed  by  the  conversion  thereof  into  real  chattel. 
The  wealthy  Protestants  had  the  old  confiscated  Catholic 
property  as  in  fee  simple;  they  were  all  freeholders,  and 
freeholders  to  a  large  amount.  There  was  scarcely  a  Prot- 
estant above  the  rank  of  a  beggar,  who,  if  he  was  a  free- 
holder, was  not  so  to  the  value  of  twenty  pounds.  But 
the  rich  Catholic  had  made  the  most  of  his  money,  by 
giving  the  Protestant  a  large  fine  to  reduce  the  yearly 
rent  of  ground  which  he  took  for  a  long  term  of  years, 
when  he  could  not  take  as  freehold,  or  if  he  had  a  free- 
hold he  could  not  vote,  though  he  was  frequently  richer 
than  his  landlord,  who  had  a  freehold  of  perhaps  two  or 
three  thousand  pounds  per  annum.  In  1793  this  Catholic 
wished  to  become  a  freeholder,  and  he  could  with  diffi- 

'  Since  Bishop  England's  <lny  tho  Irish  In  America  have  become  a  larger  body 
than  thoso  at  home;  and  It  is  becoming  apparent  every  day  that  they  will  play 
no  small  part  in  freeing  Ireland  from  Briti  h  rule. 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  519 

culty   procure   a   forty   shilling   freehold,    though    owning   real 
chattel   to   a   great   amount. 

From  those  facts  it  is  clear  that  there  could  be  very 
few  Protestant  40s.  voters,  and  the  vast  majority  of  Cath- 
olic voters  must,  for  several  years,  be  persons  of  that 
description ;  that  smallness  of  freehold  generally  would  argue 
poverty  in  the  Protestant,  and  would  by  no  means  indi- 
cate it  in  a  Catholic;  and  that  to  disfranchise  the  small 
freeholders  generally  would  be,  however  impartial  in  appear- 
ance, nearly  equivalent  to  a  disfranchisement  of  the  Irish 
Catholics.  The  Catholic  voters,  I  believe,  are  now  to  the 
Protestant  voters  through  Ireland  in  the  ratio  of  three  to 
one;  and  by  this  disfranchisement  of  the  40s.  freeholders, 
the  Catholic  voters  would  be  to  the  Protestant  in  the  ratio 
of  one  to  five,  if  we  take  corporations,  though  the  Prot- 
estant population  is  to  the  Catholic  in  the  ratio  of  one 
to  over  six.  Almost  every  Irish  Protestant  either  is  or 
has  it  in  his  power  to  become  a  voter.  It  is  a  matter  of 
great'  difficulty  to  a  Roman  Catholic  to  become  qualified. 
I  have  known  Roman  Catholics,  whose  property  was  worth 
more  than  twenty  thousand  pounds,  during  two  or  three 
years  anxiously  endeavoring  to  obtain,  for  more  than  its 
value,  as  much  freehold  property  as  would  enable  them  to 
register  as  40s.  freeholders,  and  still  unable  to  obtain  it. 
If,  then,  it  is  so  difficult  to  obtain  a  qualification  of  40s., 
would  not  the  difficulty  be  increased  by  making  it  five 
times  as  great?  And  if  my  views  of  the  facts  be  correct, 
would  not  the  ten  pound  freeholder,  who  would  owe  his 
franchise  to  the  indulgence  of  his  landlord,  be  a  worse 
slave  than  the  present  40s.  freeholder?  And  would  it  not 
be  unjust  to  the  individuals  and  injurious  to  the  principle 
of  civil  liberty  and  of  morality  and  integrity,  to  deprive 
the  least  corrupt  portion  of  the  constituency  of  their  right, 
under  the  false  pretext  of  their  having  abused  it?  to  take 
from  the  body  of  the  people  the  characteristic  of  freemen, 
and  to  diminish  the  number  of  persons  to  be  influenced, 
thereby  creating  a  facility  which  wrould  tempt  the  corrupter? 


520  TEE  IRISH  FRANCHISE, 

Would  Ireland  be  compensated  for  these  evils  by  Mr. 
Blake's  aristocracy?  What  will  you  put  in  competition 
with  the  liberties  of  your  country?  I  am  sick  of  the  sub- 
ject. Amongst  the  several  possibilities  that  ever  rose  before 
my  understanding,  the  necessity  of  thus  remonstrating  with 
you  upon  this  topic,  was  one  of  the  last  I  could  imagine. 

Did  you  not  see  the  dreadful  innovation,  like  some  dark 
cloud  rising  in  the  east,  obscuring  the  sun  of  your  hope, 
darkening  the  prospects  of  your  country,  communicating  its 
gloom  to  every  countenance,  collecting  every  kindred  speck 
as  it  rose,  lowering  upon  your  liberties,  as  it  spread  upon 
the  horizon,  and  threatened  in  the  zenith?  Every  timid 
man  fled,  every  prudent  man  feared,  every  honest  man 
bewailed,  that  which  was  likely  to  ensue ;  whilst  you  stood 
calmly  descanting  upon  the.  glories  of  that  luminary  which 
it  veiled,  the  innocence  of  its  lightning,  the  harmony  of 
its  thunder,  and  the  benefits  which  would  ensue  to  the  land 
after  the  deluge  which  it  would  pour  forth  should  have 
swept  away  the  hovels  of  the  forty  shilling  freeholders  and 
their  inmates  to  the  gulf  of  ruin ;  then,  indeed,  a  new 
order  of  things  would  arise,  "  Jam  redit  Astrsea."  The 
Orange  persecutor  would  become  charitable  and  kind;  the 
middleman,  benevolent ;  the  landlord  would  be  a  protector ; 
the  magistrate,  impartial ;  the  parson  would  be  liberal ; 
the  tithe-proctor,  merciful ;  the  tax-gatherer,  tender-hearted ; 
and  a  happy  race  of  peasants  would  enjoy  the  soil.  Did 
you  believe  all  this  would  happen?  If  you  did,  your  hopes 
were  greater  than  were  those  of  your  friend. 

VI. 

I  shall  now  conclude  my  remarks  upon  the  attempt  to 
destroy  the  rights  of  the  Irish  Catholic  electors.  I  call 
it  the  attempt  to  destroy  their  rights,  because  I  believe  I 
have  fully  shown,  that  if  the  bill  had  passed,  this  destruc- 
tion would  be  its  inevitable  consequence.  Thus  it  would 
be  injuring  religious  liberty,  without  naming  religion ;  it 
would  be  injuring  civil  liberty,  by  stripping  thousands  of 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  521 

their  franchise ;  it  would  be  maintaining  the  Protestant 
ascendency  in  Ireland,  without  calling  it  Protestant ;  it 
would  be  the  Avorst  species  of  persecution,  viz.,  persecution 
in  disguise.  Every  person  now  points  with  reproof  and 
scorn  to  your  boasting  masters,  who  assume  to  be  most 
liberal,  whilst  they  arc  well  known  to  be  the  most  perse- 
cuting government  in  the  civilized  world.  The  South 
American,  just  emerged  from  bondage,  is  more  liberal,  and 
when  he  refuses  to  your  government  the  right  of  making 
religious  establishments  in  his  country,  for  your  Protestant 
merchants,  it  is  because  he  has  been  informed  that  those 
merchants  petition  to  continue  the  oppression  of  his  fellow- 
Catholic  in  Great  Britain ;  and  because  he  sees  that  those 
merchants  will,  if  permitted  to  make  such  establishments, 
deluge  his  country  with  bad  translations  of  the  Bible,  and 
tell  the  people  that  their  priests  are  knaves,  whose  religion 
is  a  sacrilegious  traffic  upon  dirty  bits  of  brown  paper, 
and  who  give  men  leave  to  rob  their  neighbors,  provided 
they  share  the  plunder  with  them.1 

As  he  knows  he  has  religion  and  is  not  an  idolater, 
and  as  he  knows  those  vile  falsehoods  would  create  mis- 
chievous irritation,  he  thinks  it  just  as  well  to  keep  that 
Christianity  which  came  down  from  the  Apostles  through 
his  fathers,  as  to  substitute  any  modification  thereof,  which 
Britain  or  even  New  England  can  bestow  upon  him.  But 
he  enacts  no  law  to  deprive  the  people  of  the  country  of 
their  civil  rights,  because  they  will  not  give  up  the 
religion  of  their  ancestors ;  and  this  is  more  liberality  and 
justice  than  Great  Britain  has  evinced  since  the  days  of 
Henry  VIII.  Is  there  in  the  world  a  parallel  to  British 
intolerance?  The  inquisitors  prevented  the  people  from 
making  changes  in  religion,  upon  the  ground  that  any 
essential  change  must  destroy  it.  Britain  persecutes  them 
for  not  changing  with  her,  though  she  says  that  they  might 
err  in  making  those  changes.  The  Inquisition  could  keep 
all  its  victims  in  a  few  dungeons ;  Britain  has  not,  in 
three  centuries,  ever  had  less  than  millions  of  victims  at 

'See  article  on  "Bulls  of  the  Crusades"  in  the  second  volume. 


•522  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

a  time.  Ireland  has  been  one  vast  prison,  and  every  member 
of  her  ascendency  has  been  an  inquisitor.  I  disapprove  of 
the  Inquisition.  It  never  was  a  portion  of  our  religion, 
as  is  erroneously  imagined.  But  in  the  most  angry  times 
of  religious  acrimony,  forgive  me  the  expression,  British 
writers  have  had  to  ransack  our  Church  for  the  names  of 
a  few  persecutors  who  filled  our  episcopal  chairs ;  the 
world  has  to  rest  but  upon  very  few  dignified  names  in 
the  modern  British  hierarchy,  who  stand  an  exception  hon- 
orable to  themselves  from  its  bench  of  bishops.  Britain  is 
not  insensible  to  this  j  and  therefore  the  oligarchy  which 
rules  her  is  anxious  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a  virtue 
which  it  has  not.  It  wishes  to  keep  the  Irish  Catholics 
powerless,  but  still  yearns  to  have  the  semblance  of  being 
liberal,  and  finding  that  it  cannot  destroy  the  power  of  a 
Catholic  nation,  such  as  Ireland  is,  without  destroying  its 
civil  rights,  it  attempts  to  do  both  by  one  act;  and  that  is, 
by  disfranchising  a  large  body  of  electors,  who,  under  present 
circumstances,  must  almost  universally  be  Catholics,  and  then 
in  return,  it  will  dole  out  favors  to  a  chosen  few,  and  pay 
the  clergy,  that  they  may  aid  in  enslaving  the  people.  Thus 
Britain  will  endeavor  to  wipe  away  the  stigma  of  her  disgrace, 
and  still  do  the  very  acts  for  which  that  stigma  was 
deserved. 

Look  to  the  history  of  our  country  and  decide  by  facts. 
I  have  been  amused  by  what  has  been  miscalled  the  phi- 
losophy of  history — such  is  Hume's  : — a  mockery  of  reason- 
ing not  worthy  of  even  the  dignity  of  a  sophism,  which 
attemps  to  argue  you  out  of  truth,  by  supposing  it  possible 
that  a  fact  which  is  related  did  not  occur ;  and  discover- 
ing possibilities  that  motives  might  have  been,  of  the 
existence  of  which  there  is  no  proof,  but  evidence  the 
other  way.  And  then  without  evidence,  and  contrary  to 
evidence,  you  are  upon  the  philosophy  of  history  to  sup- 
pose the  fact  which  history  exhibits  did  not  occur,  or  if 
you  cannot  be  brought  to  that,  you  must  at  least  believe 
by  philosophy,  that  the  agent  had  motives  which  are  dif- 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  523 

ferent  from  the  true  ones.  This  is  one  kind  of  philosophy 
with  which  I  hope  never  to  be  imbued.  Some  reflection 
has  led  me  to  study  history  after  a  different  fashion.  I 
look  upon  history  to  be  a  record  of  facts,  not  a  system 
of  speculation.  I  examine  the  truth  of  the  record  by  the 
rule  of  testimony;  where  I  have  evidence  of  the  fact,  I 
believe  it ;  where  I  have  not,  I  draw  no  conclusion.  In 
like  manner  I  deal  with  motives  and  dispositions.  The 
object  of  my  study  of  history  is  to  argue  by  analogy.  My 
conclusions  from  analogy  in  history  can  only  be  highly 
probable,  but  where  I  cannot  be  certain,  I  may  prudently 
be  guided  by  high  probability.  After  having  studied  this, 
I  give  nothing  for  the  professions  of  statesmen ;  I  judge 
them  by  their  acts.  Our  venerable  friend,  Bishop  Moylan, 
of  Cork,  frequently  told  me,  during  his  illness,  and  with 
serious  emphasis  and  for  useful  purposes,  how  little  reliance 
was  to  be  placed  upon  British  statesmen  by  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland.  His  warning  was  conveyed  in  the  relation  of 
a  multitude  of  facts,  in  which  he  had  been  too  well 
instructed,  because  he  and  other  bishops  had  been  very 
often  artfully  deluded  by  great  and  good  men  and  by 
sincere  friends.  I  shall  never  forget  his  dying  injunction 
to  me  upon  the  subject. 

Look  then  to  Irish  history.  I  pass  over  the  acts  of 
William  and  Mary;  I  pass  over  those  of  Anne;  I  pass 
over  the  cruel  inflictions  under  George  I;  the  whole  period 
of  the  mean  and  deceitful  Charleses  and  Jameses ;  the 
atrocious  times  of  Elizabeth  I  consign  also  for  the  present, 
to  oblivion ;  I  begin  with  the  ascension  of  George  II.  Up 
to  this  period  the  Irish  Catholics  were  not  deprived  of 
the  elective  franchise,  though  by  an  act,  which,  if  I  am 
rightly  informed,  can  only  find  its  parallel  in  the  old 
colony  of  Maryland,  they  were  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II 
shut  out  of  their  houses  of  legislature,  of  which  they  were 
members ;  •  excluded  without  any  semblance  of  law  or 
authority,  but  by  a  simple  vote  of  their  associates ;  and 
most  part  of  their  lands  having  been  taken  away,  and  they 


51  THE  JfflSU  FRANCHISE. 

being  excluded  from  most  of  the  corporations,  though  they 
had  the  right  of  electors  in  law,  they  did  not  generally 
possess  it  in  fact,  for  want  of  qualification,  during  the 
reigns  of  William  and  Mary,  Anne,  ajid  George  I.  But 
when  George  II  came  to  the  throne,  Primate  Boulter,  who 
was  then  tho  chief  oligarch  of  Ireland,  observed  that  the 
number  of  Catholics  who  by  law  were  qualified  to  vote 
had  greatly  increased,  and  that  the  Clanrickarde  family 
had  been,  through  Catholic  influence,  thrown  out  of  the 
representation  of  Galway.  The  family  of  Portumna  had 
then  become  Protestant,  and  joined  the  oligarchy.  But  the 
Catholics  committed  a  worse  crime,  one  which  Britain 
seldom  forgives.  They  were  then  to  the  Protestants  as  five 
to  one,  and  for  the  first  time  some  Irish  Protestants  began 
to  look  to  the  welfare  of  Ireland,  and  to  form  the  Irish 
party  in  support  of  the  civil  liberty  of  their  country; 
against  those  men  Primate  Boulter  formed  the  English 
party;  the  Catholics  joined  the  patriotic  Irish  Protestants, 
and  with  them  sought  the  benefit  of  their  common  country. 
They  voted  in  electing  the  parliament  of  1727.  And  that 
very  parliament  in  whose  election  they  concurred  deprived 
them  of  the  elective  franchise,  and  this  was  done  by  the 
contrivance  of  the  oligarchy,  in  a  clause  by  way  of  amend- 
ment, at  one  of  the  late  stages  of  a  bill,  without  notice 
or  debate.  In  what  does  this  nefarious  act  differ  from  the 
late  attempt,  so  far  as  principle  and  apparent  object  are 
concerned  ?  The  cases  are  very  nearly  parallel.  Primate 
Boulter  wanted  no  debate  then.  All  was  done  without 
agitation.  It  is  true  this  late  bill  Avould  not  make  so 
extensive  a  sweep ;  and  Mr.  Anthony  Richasd  Blake  might 
get  into  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  act  of  George  II  disfranchised  two-thirds  of  the 
Irish  electors;  so  would  the  bill  of  Mr.  Littleton.  I  could 
insure  you  a  pretty  ascendency  to  plague  you,  did  it  pass. 

But  the  analogy  will  hold  still  farther.  At  that  time, 
too,  there  was  a  Catholic  rent,  the  payment  of  which  was 
prevented,  and  the  association  broken  up.  Whilst  an  act 


TILE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  525 

was  pending  to  prevent  Papists  from  acting  as  solicitors, 
the  Catholics  of  Dublin  and  Cork  entered  into  a  subscrip- 
tion to  defray  the  expenses  of  opposing  the  bill.  An 
interdicted  priest,  one  Hennesy,  became,  as  all  such  unfor- 
tunate men  will  become,  the  accuser  and  defamer  of  his 
Church ;  he  informed  the  government  that  this  subscription 
was  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  in  Popery  and  the 
Pretender.  I  do  not  find  that  he  added  "  wooden  shoes." 
The  papers  of  the  collectors  were  seized  and  laid  before 
the  House  of  Commons,  I  know  not  whether  in  a  green 
bag  or  in  a  red  bag.  After  the  examination,  the  committee 
reported  that  it  appeared  to  them,  "  that  under  color  of 
opposing  heads  of  bills,  great  sums  of  money  had  been 
collected  and  raised,  and  a  fund  established  by  the  Popish 
inhabitants  of  the  kingdom,  through  the  influence  of  their 
clergy,  highly  detrimental  to  the  Protestant  interest  and  of 
imminent  danger  to  the  present  happy  establishment."  From 
the  printed  report  of  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, it  was  manifest  that  this  subscription  for  bringing 
in.  Popery  and  the  Pretender  amounted  to  the  enormous 
sum  of  five  pounds,  lawful  money  of  Ireland !  Your  late 
association  had  a  purse  also,  and  was  to  do  great  mischief; 
under  color  of  procuring  bills,  it  was  to  be  highly  detri- 
mental to  the  Protestant,  that  is,  the  Orange,  interest,  and 
of  imminent  danger  to  the  present  happy  establishment, 
which  makes  the  most  salubrious  and  fertile  island  in  the 
world,  inhabited  by  the  most  patient  and  laborious  and 
vigorous  people  on  earth,  the  most  wretched  spot  of  human 
endurance  on  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

The  liberal  Protestants  of  Ireland  and  the  Irish  Catholics 
associated  for  the  .benefit  of  their  country.  A  subscription 
was  made ;  it  was  more  than  five  pounds.  The  donation 
of  the  Duke  of  Leinster,  one  of  the  best  of  Irishmen,  the 
mite  of  the  laboring  40s.  freeholder,  the  confluence  of  the 
intermediate  contributions,  all  formed  a  grand  national 
reservoir,  by  means  of  which  a  nation  thirsting  for  justice 
might  be  refreshed  even  under  the  fiery  ray  of  a  consuming 


526  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

oligarch.  This  was  more  than  could  be  endured  by  the 
enemies  of  Ireland.  Your  association  was  put  down ;  the 
payment  of  your  rent  prevented;  but  as  you  were  not 
quite  as  powerless  as  your  predecessors  under  George  II, 
some  cunning  should  be  resorted  to  before  you  could  lose 
your  franchise.  Kind  words,  soothing  promises,  valueless 
professions  of  patriotism  and  friendship,  won  upon  you, 
and  you  were  induced  with  the  best  intentions  to  give  the 
worst  advice.  To  tell  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  to  remain 
quiet,  until  after  every  hope  of  their  children  should  have 
been  destroyed,  by  stripping  the  great  body  of  the  people 
of  the  last  remnant  of  their  rights — their  franchise — Oh ! 
my  friend,  how  could  you  have  ever,  not  consented,  for 
you  did  not,  but  permitted,  whilst  you  had  a  tongue  to 
speak,  a  finger  to  write,  or  a  hand  to  raise — how  could 
you  have  permitted  the  poor  Irish  peasant  whom  I  know 
you  love,  that  poor  man  who  has  so  often  borne  you  in 
triumph  upon  his  shoulder;  whose  heart  expanded  when 
you  appeared;  whose  first  shout  was  the  expression  of 
your  name ;  whose  aifection  for  you  was  boundless  as  his 
confidence  in  you;  whose  triumph  was  your  fame;  whose 
little  earning  was  a  treasure  open  for  your  application  to 
the  public  good — how  could  you  have  permitted  that  man 
to  be  disfranchised?  And  this,  after  he  placed  his  money 
at  your  disposal  and  his  rights  in  your  keeping? 

If  I  know  anything  of  the  policy  of  the  union  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  it  was  chiefly  devised  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  the  influence  of  the  Catholic  electors  of  Ire- 
land. Their  influence  was  increasing,  they  would  have 
gradually  driven  the  Irish  Commons  to  do  them  justice, 
there  would  cease  to  be  a  Catholic  and  a  Protestant  party, 
but  there  would  be  an  Irish  party,  and  that  party  would 
be  the  majority  of  the  nation,  comprising  men  of  every 
belief.  This  was  not  to  the  taste  of  the  British  Cabinet. 
The  Orangeman  was  told  by  the  whisperer  from  the  castle : 
"  The  Papists  have  the  elective  franchise ;  their  numbers 
are  great ;  their  voters  are  multiplying ;  your  Irish  Com- 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  527 

mons  must  soon  emancipate  them,  unless  you  join  our 
British  Protestant  House :  in  Ireland  only  the  Papists  are 
a  majority;  in  a  united  empire,  they  are  a  minority: 
consent  to  the  union,  or  you  will  be  overwhelmed."  The 
castle  told  the  Catholics :  "  The  Irish  Orangemen  are  so 
corrupt  that  emancipation  never  will  be  granted  by  the 
Irish  House  of  Commons  in  which  those  Orangemen  are 
and  must  continue  to  be  a  decided  majority,  but  the 
English  Protestants  are  without  prejudice,  or  if  they  have 
fears,  in  case  of  emancipation,  of  seeing  Catholics  become 
a  majority  in  the  Irish  House,  they  can  have  no  dread 
from  admitting  a  minority  consisting  of  Catholics  into  a 
united  parliament;  the  Irish  Commons  are  corrupt,  venal 
and  bigoted;  it  is  only  by  a  union  with  Britain  that  the 
Irish  Catholic  can  expect  emancipation."  Already  pensions 
were  held  out  to  the  clergy  and  the  nefarious  and  almost 
simoniacal  traffic  was  commenced.  Better  men  could  not 
exist  than  the  bishops  whom  wily  statesmen  deluded.  The 
union  was  effected  by  duping  the  Catholic;  I  once  thought 
the  Orangeman  too  was  duped,  but  it  is  now  clear  he 
•was  not.  It  was  an  actual  disfranchisement  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  by  leaving  him  an  influence  in  choosing  only 
about  one-tenth  of  the  British  House  in  which  his  rights 
were  to  be  now  disposed  of,  instead  of  leaving  him  an 
influence  in  the  election  of  two-thirds  of  the  Irish  House, 
which  before  the  union  was  to  decide  upon  his  fate.  The 
eifect  of  this  disfranchisement  was  in  truth  the  same  to 
the  Irish  Catholic,  as  if  an  act  had  passed  disqualifying 
electors  of  that  communion  from  voting  for  twelve-thirteenths 
of  the  members  of  the  Common  House ;  as  it  must  be 
manifest  that  whether  you  increase  in  certain  ratio  the 
number  of  members  who  are  returned  by  Protestants  only, 
or  diminish  the  number  returned  by  Catholics  and  Prot- 
ests in  the  ratio,  the  result  will  be  the  some.  But  by 
this  act  both  ratios  were  combined  against  the  Catholic ; 
and  the  hopes  of  Ireland  were  given  to  the  keeping  of 
eleven  British  and  two  Irish  members.  The  Catholics  could 


528  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

return  one  of  the  Irish  and  had  no  influence  over  the 
return  of  the  British  members. 

And  now  the  oligarchy  seeks  to  deprive  the  Irish  Cath- 
olic of  even  this  moderate  influence.  Did  not  the  act  of 
union  sufficiently  neutralize  the  power  restored  to  the  Cath- 
olic by  the  act  of  1793? 

And  what  has  the  result  been?  You  have  during  a 
quarter  of  a  century  been  bowing  and  dancing  attendance  upon 
your  masters,  and  how  have  their  promises  been  fulfilled? 
But  you  have  grown  strong,  and  they  know  it.  You  have 
lately  united  and  pressed  your  claims.  The  eye  of  the 
world  is  upon  you  and  upon  them.  They  are  worried  by 
you,  but  still  they  bid  defiance  to  public  opinion.  Instead 
of  doing  you  even  tardy  justice,  they  cunningly  contrive  to 
sow  dissension  amongst  you,  and  endeavor  to  rob  you  of 
that  which  constitutes  your  strength.  How  often  has  Bri- 
tain lulled  you  into  a  false  security  and  let  in  the  enemy 
upon  you.  But  you  rose  in  your  might,  broke  the  new 
cords  and  the  ropes  of  sinews,  and  your  frown  terrified 
your  foe.  Your  appearance  was  uncourtly,  you  were  agi- 
tators, it  would  become  you  better  to  cast  away  those  curl- 
ing locks  which  indicate  your  barbarity  and  corruption. 
Do,  pray,  allow  your  uncouth  40s.  freeholders  to  be  trimmed 
off.  You  will  then  be  fit  to  enter  the  royal  presence  of 
the  princes  of  Philistia.  Do  you  not  see,  the  secret  of 
strength  is  made  manifest?  You  know  the  source  of  your 
weakness.  Why  will  you  dally  in  danger?  Though  your 
hair  should  grow,  your  eyes  will  have  been  previously 
destroyed ;  in  your  fury  you  may  grope  for  vengeance,  and 
perish  together  with  your  oppressors.  But  now  be  prudent, 
and  you  need  not  dread  this  deplorable  alternative  of 
slavery;  you  need  neither  grind  in  a  mill,  nor  shake  the 
pillars  of  the  State.  Cherish  the  source  of  your  energy; 
guard  it  as  the  apple  of  your  eye;  reject  the  blandishments 
of  your  disguised  enemies ;  this  is  your  maxim  of  safety. 

But,  my  friend,  a  word  more  with  you.  The  examina- 
tion of  the  effects  of  the  union  has  reminded  me  of  a 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  529 

fact.  "When  Ireland  was  threatened  with  this  calamity ; 
when  terror  scowled  upon  the  visage  at  every  satellite  of 
the  castle ;  when  desolation  swept  the  fields ;  when  the 
streets  of  her  metropolis  were  almost  empty;  when  the 
widow  durst  not  mourn ;  when  the  orphan's  eye  looked  in 
vain  for  that  father  whose  name  his  tongue  could  not  utter; 
when  in  such  days  as  these  traffic  and  barter  were  used 
to  despoil  the  people,  and  the  Catholics  were  assured  by 
men  who  never  kept  faith  with  Catholics,  that  a  united 
parliament  would  grant  what  that  parliament  has  repeatedly 
refused, — one  little  patriotic  band  had  the  hardihood  to 
walk  boldly  to  the  vicinity  of  the  castle  of  Dublin,  that 
in  the  very  hearing  of  the  agents  of  their  country's  ruin, 
in  the  face  of  the  country,  they  might  at  least  make  a 
protest  against  the  destruction  of  the  rights  of  their  country. 
The  formidable  guard  with  the  pointed  bayonet  stood  to 
prevent  this  band  from  entering  the  Royal  Exchange ;  but 
they  gained  admittance.  And  one  young  man  who  never 
did  and  never  will  yield  to  terror,  raised  his  voice  that 
day  and  thus  addressed  his  fellow-Catholics : 

He  said,  that  under  the  circumstances  of  the  present  day, 
and  the  systematic  calumnies  flung  against  the  Catholic  char- 
acter, it  was  more  than  once  determined  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Dublin  to  stand  entirely  aloof,  as  a  mere  sect, 
from  any  political  discussion,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
were  ready,  as  forming  generally  a  part  of  the  people  of 
Ireland,  to  confer  with  and  express  their  opinions  in  con- 
junction with  their  Protestant  fellow-subjects. 

This  resolution,  which  they  entered  into,  gave  rise  to  an 
extensive  and  injurious  misrepresentation,  and  it  was  asserted 
by  the  advocates  of  union,  daringly  and  insolently  asserted, 
that  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland  were  friends  to  the 
measure  of  union,  and  silent  allies  of  that  conspiracy  formed 
against  the  name,  the  interest,  and  the  liberties  of  Ireland. 

This  libel  on  the  Catholic  character  was  strengthened  by 
the  partial  declarations  of  some  mean  and  degenerate  mem- 

34 


530  THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE. 

bers,  wrought  upon  by  corruption  or  by  fear,  and  unfor- 
tunately it  was  received  with  a  too  general  credulity. 
Every  union  pamphlet,  every  union  speech,  impudently  put 
forth  the  Catholic  name  as  sanctioning  such  a  measure, 
which  would  annihilate  the  name  of  the  country,  and  there 
was  none  to  refute  the  calumny.  In  the  speeches  and 
pamphlets  of  anti-unionists,  it  was  rather  admitted  than 
denied,  and  at  length  the  Catholics  themselves  were  obliged 
to  break  through  a  resolution  which  they  had  formed,  in 
order  to  guard  against  misrepresentation,  for  the  purpose  of 
repelling  this  worst  of  misrepresentations. 

To  refute  a  calumny  directed  against  them  as  a  sect, 
they  were  obliged  to  come  forward  as  a  sect,  and  in  the 
face  of  their  country  to  disavow  the  base  conduct  imputed 
to  them,  and  to  declare  that  the  assertion  of  their  being 
favorably  inclined  to  the  measure  of  a  legislative  incorpora- 
tion with  Great  Britain,  was  a  slander  the  most  vile,  a 
libel  the  most  false,  scandalous,  and  wicked  that  ever  was 
directed  against  the  character  of  an  individual  or  a  people. 
"Sir,"  said  he,  "it  is  my  sentiment,  and  I  am  satisfied 
it  is  the  sentiment,  not  only  of  every  gentleman  who  now 
hears  me,  but  of  the  Catholic  people  of  Ireland,  that  if 
our  opposition  to  this  injurious,  insulting,  and  hated  measure 
of  union  were  to  draw  upon  us  the  revival  of  the  penal 
laws,  we  would  boldly  meet  proscription  and  oppression, 
which  would  be  the  testimonies  of  our  virtue,  and  sooner 
throw  ourselves  once  more  on  the  mercy  of  our  Protestant 
brethren,  than  give  our  assent  to  the  political  murder  of 
our  country;  yes,  I  know  —  I  do  know,  that  although 
exclusive  advantages  may  be  ambiguously  held  forth  to  the 
Irish  Catholic  to  seduce  him  from  the  sacred  duty  he 
owes  his  country;  I  know  that  the  Catholics  of  Ireland 
still  remember,  that  they  have  a  country,  and  that  they 
will  never  accept  of  any  advantages  as  a  sect  which  would 
debase  and  destroy  them  as  a  people." 

Those  Catholics  joined  with  that  young  patriot  in  his 
protest.  You  are  that  young  man ;  fear  could  not  operate 


THE  IRISH  FRANCHISE.  531 

upon  you.  I  have  always  honestly  addressed  you :  I  must 
have  no  false  delicacy  upon  a  public  question,  in  which 
the  dearest  interests  of  our .  common  native  land  and  our 
common  religion  are  deeply  involved.  I  will  use  the  bold- 
ness of  my  friendship  and  love  of  my  native  land  and 
my  religion,  even  with  the  pain  which  it  gives  me  to  sayr 
that  I  believe  you  were  seduced  to  hesitate,  by  men  by 
whom  you  were  surrounded,  by  men  whom  I  know,  by 
men  who  would  not  stand  by  you  at  the  Royal  Exchange 
on  that  day;  by  men  who  know  not  the  meaning  of  the 
word  country,  but  who  well  know  the  meaning  of  the 
word  court.  Do,  my  friend,  let  Daniel  O'Connell,  in  1826, 
upon  this  question,  maintain  the  principle  which  he  so 
nobly  sustained  in  1800;  the  news  will  cheer  many  an 
Irishman  who  is  numbed  near  the  pole  or  who  glows 
under  the  equator;  and  the  name  of  his  friend  will  stili 
be  surrounded  with  the  affection  and  the  prayers  of 

JOHN,   Bishop   of  Charleston* 


>y  -  —  * 

T1          w-  - 


PRESS—  THE  BALTIKORB  PUBLISHINO  Co. 


c  -m 


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